Why Can't you Just Get Along?
by em91011
Summary: Chad Danforth has a good life. He's second place for alpha male of East High and he has two amazing best friends: Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez. The only problem is that Troy and Gabriella hate each other. Troyella. Not really about Chad. T for safety.
1. Freak

**Disclaimer: I'm getting tired of this. So let me make it very clear to you. I. Don't. Own.**

**AN: HEY WHAT'S UP?? So, I'm sort of hyper. Well, it's 10:45. But I don't care because I only have one day of school tomorrow and I don't think I have any tests or anything, so I can be tired. So, this is a new idea I had about Chad being Troy and Gabriella's friends. I'm writing it at the same time as Best Friends (read it)(well, I wrote Life Isn't Always a Pineapple Sundae, but that was a oneshot), so I might not update both of them every day. It'll start in Chad's perspective, but it'll switch around a lot. I hope it's clear enough who's perspective it's in, but if not let me know and I'll make it clearer. Anyhoo, I'll shut up now.**

It was a beautiful morning. Chad Danforth sat up in bed and pulled back his curtains. He showered and pulled on a pair of jeans and layered a t-shirt over a long-sleeved shirt and threw on his sneakers before running downstairs and grabbing his backpack and a piece of toast before yelling goodbye to his mother and racing out the door. Because, as always, Chad was late for school.

Chad went to East High, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he was a senior. His two best friends who also went to East High were Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez. Troy was on the basketball team with Chad. Gabriella was best friends with his girlfriend, Taylor, and both girls were on the scholastic decathlon team. It was actually through Gabriella that Chad knew Taylor. He loved both of his friends to pieces. There was only one problem – they weren't crazy about each other. Actually, they were sworn enemies.

Chad pulled up in the school's parking lot and raced inside, still stuffing the now cold toast into his mouth. He rushed into his homeroom and took his seat between Troy and Gabriella, who were glaring at each other.

"Mr. Danforth. So nice of you to finally grace us with your presence," said Ms. Darbus. Darbus was their homeroom teacher, and she was pure evil. She was obsessed with drama, as well, and directed all of the school plays and musicals.

"Sorry, Ms. Darbus. I overslept."

The teacher only sighed. "Detention, Mr. Danforth."

Chad exchanged glances with Troy. Gabriella rolled her eyes. That boy had to stop getting detentions or he would never get into a college **(I have no idea if college looks at how much detention you get. I'm only a freshman, and only as of one month ago)**. She would have to talk with him when she had calmed herself down.

You see, Gabriella had not had the best of mornings. She, too, had overslept, so she had had to rush to get to school on time. And then she had gotten into a fight with Troy. She usually didn't mind, because she always got into fights with Troy. They hated each other, after all. But this one had been a particularly nasty one.

Just last week, Troy had discovered that calling her a freak really got to her, and he had used the name today. He had had trouble getting to her with names, because she wasn't hurt that easily. He had called her stupid, ugly, fat, geeky, and a bitch among other things, but they hadn't gotten to her, because she was either proud of these things or she knew they weren't true. But she had to admit that there was a part of her that suspected that he was right about her being a freak.

After homeroom, Chad walked out with Taylor, Gabriella, and Troy. He saw that Gabriella was upset and he gave her a hug. Taylor didn't object because she knew that Chad didn't see Gabriella like that. In fact, she joined in the hug. Troy just stood there looking disgusted.

"Gabi, sweetie, what's wrong?" Chad said tenderly. **(He doesn't like her like that. She doesn't like him like that. Just thought I'd get that out there.)**

She sniffed, trying not to cry. "He called me a freak again," she said softly, so that Troy wouldn't hear. Chad rolled his eyes at Troy. He went over to talk to him, leaving Taylor to comfort her friend.

"Dude, stop being so mean to Gabriella. She's my friend as much as you are."

Troy just laughed and shrugged. "Sorry, but she's just such a... freak." He said the last word loudly enough for Gabriella to hear, and she buried her head in Taylor's shoulder. Chad glared at him.

"Troy. You're my best friend, but you can't treat her like that." And suddenly, he beckoned to Gabriella, who came over to both of them.

"Actually, I have something to say to both of you. You're my best friends, but you're driving me insane with all of your fighting. So cut it out. Make peace. Sign a treaty, for all I care. But I'm sick of it. I can't even be around you guys when you fight anymore." He walked away and Troy followed, leaving Taylor with Gabriella.

"You know, it is kind of annoying when you fight," Taylor admitted. Gabriella shrugged. "He starts it."

Taylor laughed. "Not always. And when will you admit that you're insanely attracted to each other?"

"Oh, come on. Me and Troy?" scoffed Gabriella.

"You aren't attracted to each other? Then explain why you're always so close to each other by the end of your fights."

Gabriella looked confused. Taylor rolled her eyes. "You start across the room from each other, but by the end of your fights your noses are practically touching."

Gabriella was a little shocked. "I'm not attracted to him. At all."

Taylor looked at her. "Can you honestly tell me that you've never had the urge to kiss him?"

Gabriella was even more shocked. "I have never in my life wanted to kiss Troy Bolton."

Taylor shrugged and walked away. She didn't notice that Gabriella had her fingers crossed behind her back.

_Flashback_

_It had been a few months ago. Troy and Gabriella were in a particularly nasty fight and were standing less than a foot apart, yelling at the top of their lungs._

_"God, you're such an idiot. You don't think about anything except basketball!" screamed Gabriella_

_"Well at least people like me! At least I have real friends that aren't just hanging out with me because they feel sorry for me!" he shouted back at her. Gabriella's anger disappeared, to be replaced by a truly hurt expression. She ran out of the room._

_Troy found her crying in a corner. "Brie… I- I- I didn't mean that. I was just- just trying to hurt you."_

_"Mission accomplished," Gabriella said through her tears. Troy reached out and touched her cheek, surprising both of them._

_"I'm really sorry. I didn't mean it, I swear." Gabriella looked up. Their gazes locked. Both started to lean in, closing their eyes slowly. But then they realized that they were sworn enemies._

_Troy pushed her to cover for himself – not roughly, because he would never physically hurt a girl, but he definitely pushed her – and said, "We never had this conversation."_

_"What conversation?" With that, Gabriella stood up and walked away._

_End flashback_

Remembering that day, Gabriella sighed. She had never known that Troy had a soft side, and she hadn't seen it since. He had let his guard down, but she would never forget that day. She sighed again and walked off to a first period class.

**AN: Ooh, I bet you weren't expecting that! There's a soft side to him!!! OK, I know you don't care, but it's 8:00 am and I woke up 20 mins. ago and STILL made it to school on time. But I'm exhausted and barely had breakfast even though we're running the mile in PE today. Ew. **


	2. The Kiss

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nada. Zilch. Nil. Zero.**

**AN: So, how's life? My life is good. I don't have any more school for over a week, so I'm happy. Yay.**

Chad drove Gabriella home that day. He lived only a couple of blocks away from her, and passed her house on the way home. He liked having a chance to talk to his friend.

"Hey, Chad?" asked Gabriella tentatively, "Can I talk to you seriously?"

"Sure, Gabi. You can talk to me about anything," her friend told her.

"Have you ever felt…unwanted?"

Chad pulled over so that he could give Gabriella his full attention. "This is about Troy, isn't it?"

She nodded. "He just… I don't mind if he doesn't really like me, I just don't want him to hate me so much."

Chad looked right into her chocolate brown eyes. "Gabi, I can sit here for hours and try to make you feel better, but I doubt it'll do much. You and me both know I'm not the one you need to talk to about this."

"Taylor?" she said, hopefully.

Chad shook his head. "It's not Taylor and you know it. You don't want to, but you've got to bite the bullet and tell him."

Gabriella nodded. "I know. I just don't know how he'll react."

Chad shrugged. "How much worse can it get?"

Gabriella knew that Chad was right. But she still wasn't sure why she was sitting in front of Troy Bolton, her sworn enemy, who was in her bedroom and sitting across from her on her bed. He stretched out and leaned back on her pillow.

"So, what's up, freak?"

"That. Troy, I want to tell you something, and I know you and I don't really like each other, but just hear me out, okay?"

He looked at her silently, and she swallowed before continuing. "I don't like it when you call me a freak. It makes me feel unwanted and worthless. I know you don't care, but I really want you to stop. I know you told me not to mention it, but you were nice to me once. Remember? I just wish you were so sweet and real with me the rest of the time."

Troy looked surprised and taken aback. Maybe that's why he let his guard down. "Brie. I don't know… I don't mean any of the things I say." He stroked her hair as a single tear ran down her cheek.

"Why do you say them, then?"

"I – I guess I feel like I have an image to uphold. I used to not like you, and I guess I'm to stubborn to let people know –"

He broke off. "Know what?" Gabriella asked, hoping to catch him with his guard still down.

"Know that I've changed my mind," he mumbled.

Gabriella was stunned. "How much?"

Troy looked straight at her. "This much." And with that he quickly leaned down and captured her lips with his. She put her arms around his shoulders and he put hers around her waist. He pulled her closer and ran his tongue along her bottom lip, asking for entrance. She granted it, and soon their tongues were in a passionate wrestling match as they released all of the sexual tension that had been building up between them for all of those years. When they finally broke apart, panting, Troy held Gabriella in his arms.

"I – wow," he said, stunned. Then it hit him. He had just made out with is worst enemy.

"I gotta go…" he said, and then raced out of the front door before Gabriella could say another word.

**AN: Pft! Boys. They're too concerned with their image and not enough with what really matters. But now at least he's being nice to her, right? Sorry for the short chapter, but I had to end it there or it wouldn't make much sense. So, I'll update at 15 reviews. But I'm going to be really mean and not count reviews that are three words or less. So let me know what you think! And make sure it's more than three words or it won't count. Although I love getting 3-word reviews, too, so those are good. They just don't count towards the seven more reviews that I want before I update.**


	3. I Love Her

**Disclaimer: I do not own HSM. Yet. Muah ha ha ha ha, **_**Muah ha ha ha ha, MUAH HA HA HA HA!!!**_ _**clears throat**_

**AN: So, what's up? I don't have much to say, so I'll just write now.**

Gabriella wasn't sure what to expect when she walked into school the next day. Troy had kissed her last night, and it had been, well, amazing. The best kiss of her life. And then he just up and left. She didn't know where she stood, and wasn't sure she wanted to find out, in case it was the wrong answer. Because there was a tiny little voice, barely a whisper, at the back of her head that said maybe, just maybe, she was starting to fall for him.

"Hey, Troy," she said tentatively when she walked into school the next morning to find him sitting at his desk.

"Morning, Fr- Geek," he answered, without looking up. She couldn't help noticing that he at least changed his wording. But her face still hardened instantly. Now she knew where she stood.

"Jock," she replied, coolly, before walking to her desk and taking out her laptop and iPod, immersing herself in her wires. She sighed. She knew she shouldn't care that he was treating her like that, and at least he had stopped himself from calling her a freak, but she had to admit that there was a little part of her that was hoping that things would be alright between them.

Troy paid no attention to what Ms. Darbus was saying in homeroom. He was thinking about Gabriella. How beautiful she looked, even in her inexpensive, laid-back, sporty clothes. The way she nodded her head along to the music and tapped her foot, even mouthing the words now and then. The way she smiled every now and then for no apparent reason. When she looked upset, he wanted to comfort her, to kiss the pain away. But he couldn't because she didn't think of him that way. And because nobody could know the things he was thinking.

You see, Troy Bolton had admitted his feelings for Gabriella to himself almost a year ago. But he couldn't risk his image, so he had only been nice to her in private. It hurt him to see the pure hate in her eyes when she looked at him. He longed to be able to hold her in his arms and call her his. But he knew that he could never do that in case somebody else found out. But maybe he could talk to her in private and see what she thought.

After homeroom ended, Gabriella had a free period. Just as she was heading to the library, she felt somebody pull her into a deserted classroom and a soft hand covered her mouth.

"Shh, Brie, please don't say anything, okay? I just want to talk to you."

She heard the familiar voice and spun around. "Good, Bolton, because you have some explaining to do."

Troy looked at her sadly. He didn't want her to be angry at him. "I know. I owe you an apology. I kissed you last night, and insulted you this morning. The truth is that I have feelings for you, but I don't want anyone else to know. It would ruin my image. I do want to be your friend, if nothing more. But nobody can find out."

Gabriella was trying to take all of this in. Troy Bolton, the boy who had been terrible to her since the incident in kindergarten, had feelings for her? And he wanted to be her friend? Her secret friend?

"Troy, listen. I would like to be your friend. But I don't think I can be friends with someone who's so obsessed with their image that they can't even tell other people about friendships." And with that, she walked out of the classroom and to the library.

Troy stood in the classroom, crushed. What had he done?

……………………….

Later that afternoon, Troy lay on his bed with his music up loud, tossing a basketball up in the air. Toss, catch. Toss, catch. Toss, catch. He finally decided he needed some advice.

Casey Bolton heard a knock on her bedroom and yelled for the knocker to come in. Her younger brother, Troy, stood in her doorway.

"Case, I need help."

Casey nodded and motioned for him to sit down on her bed. She turned in her desk chair so that she was facing him. "What's eating you?" she asked him.

"It's Gabriella again. I took your advice and told her how I felt about her and asked if she wanted to be friends secretly. She just said that if I put my image first, she didn't want to know me."

Casey rolled her eyes. "Because you're putting your image first. Girls like to think that they're the most important thing in a boy's life, even if they're only friends."

Troy looked downcast. He looked at his feet and muttered, "I don't know what to do. I can't live like this, being so mean to her. I – I just can't. I need her to be my friend, even if she won't be my girlfriend."

His sister's eyes widened. "Troy. This is big. Since when did you start feeling so strongly about her?"

He shrugged dejectedly. "I guess since I gave up hope that she would be my friend."

"I want to tell you something, but you can't get mad. Promise?"

Her younger brother nodded, and she went on. "You love her."

Troy looked up. "What? I'm Troy Bolton. I don't' love girls."

"Having feelings for a girl is wanting to go out with her. Not being able to live without her is love, little bro."

"What should I do?"

Casey sighed. This would be hard. "First, admit to yourself that you love her. Say that you love her."

He thought that this was a little weird, but he said, "I love Gabriella. Now what?"

"Now," said his sister, "You have to put aside your image to become her friend. Be sweet and real and honest and put her first. That's how you'll get her to fall for you. Then you ask her out. Then you ask her to be your girlfriend. Then you tell her you love her. Just make sure enough time has passed so that you're pretty sure she'll say it back. Remember, she doesn't love you. Yet."

Troy looked at her. "Are you sure it can't be done secretly?"

"You heard her, didn't you? She won't even consider you if you don't tell everyone." Then, in a softer voice, she added, "You were five, Troy. Don't you think you can forgive her?"

"It's not that I can't forgive her. It's that nobody else thinks I can."

**AN: What happened when they were five? Well, I've already written out the chapter where it says what happened, but your ideas are welcome! I probably won't change it, though. I'm actually really pleased with it, and it explains some stuff for sure. Okay, I'll update at, let's say, 25 reviews. I was really pleased with my reviews last time! Most of the people who reviewed really thought about what they wrote, so we're going to say it has to be more than 3 words again.**


	4. Can We Be Friends?

**Disclaimer: I own HSM. Not.**

**AN: So how's life? Life's good. I'm watching The Daily Show with John Stuart. He went to High School with my dad and his real name is Jonathan Stuart Lebowitz (sp). He's awesome and hilarious.**

Troy raced into school the next morning. He knew Gabriella was always there half an hour early and he needed to talk to her.

He found her in the library, her head buried in a book. He came up and sat next to her. "Can we go somewhere else? I really need to talk to you."

She looked at him coolly. "I don't want to talk. Deal with it."

He was downcast. "Gabi… please. I – I really want to be your friend –"

"Mr. Bolton. Quiet down, please," the librarian told him.

He lowered his voice to a whisper, "And I'm willing – no, I want to – sacrifice my image for you."

Gabriella did a double take. "So that means…"

He nodded. "Tell anyone and everyone. Just, please, I want to be your friend."

She stuck out her hand. "Friends?"

He shook it. "Friends. And I'm really, really sorry. And I want you to know that I forgave you years ago. I was just to stupid to realize how much I need you as my friend again."

She smiled and looked into his eyes. She engulfed him in a big bear hug. "I forgive you for not forgiving me. Just stop being mean to me?" It was more of a question than an order."

"Never again," he said, and Gabriella could tell that he meant it, "You're my friend now, Ella." He took a deep breath and then, barely audibly, even though he was still hugging her and his breath tickled her neck, "I'd do anything for you."

She pulled back, smiling. "Anything?"

"Anything," he said, meaning it.

"Good, 'cause now I want to talk." She pulled him behind her out of the library and into an empty classroom.

"So, now that we're friends, we have years of catching up to do. Let's start with the important parts. Who do you like?"

Troy looked down at his knees from where he was sitting on one of the desks. "I'll tell you, but it doesn't leave this room. I'm in love with a beautiful girl. I love the way she smiles at me sometimes. I love how she hugs me. I love how she taps her foot along to music that's in her head, or even mouths the words sometimes. I love everything about her. But she'll never see me as more than a friend." He sighed, knowing in his hear that all of the words he said were true.

Gabriella nodded, knowing not to press him further. For some reason, she was suddenly sad. He loved another girl. That shouldn't bother her, but it did. She shook it off. "Well, I don't know who I like. I may have just started to have feelings for one boy. He's been in my life since I was little, but I've just started to see him in a new light."

Troy's eyes widened. "You like CHAD?" Gabriella giggled.

"No, silly. Someone else." Her newfound friend nodded.

"Tell me about him."

"Well," she started, "He's absolutely gorgeous for starters. He's got a tough shell, but when you get through it, he's really sweet and gentle. But he'll never think of me as more than a friend, either, and I know for a fact he's in love with another girl."

"There's no such thing as a fact, Brie," Troy said, quoting his eighth grade Physics teacher. **(actually, my 8****th**** grade Physics teacher told me that). **"Next time you see him, tell him how you feel."

Gabriella nodded, and he got up and went out of the room. If he had stayed a few moments longer, waiting outside the door, he might have heard the little voice coming from inside the classroom. The one that said, "I just did."

**AN: SO? I actually loved this chapter, because it was heartbreaking for me. It seems really obvious who they're talking about, but apparently not to them. But whatever. Let me know what you think! Next chapter: I reveal what Gabriella did all of those years ago. Sorry I waited longer than I said I would to update but Fan Fiction was being a bitch and not letting me update. So, I'll update next at 38 reviews, again not counting those of three words or less.**


	5. What Really Happened

**Disclaimer: Guess what? I don't own HSM!!! **_**sob**_

**AN: What's up? I'm listening to HSM2 music. I think that Gotta Go my Own Way is becoming my favorite song, at least from that movie. It's a really pretty song, and it has a lot of feeling. I'll just write now…**

Troy didn't bother with the basketball tossing and the music that afternoon. He just went straight to his sister's room.

He found her sitting on her bed, listening to her iPod. He walked over to her and pulled a headphone out of her ear, saying, "We need to talk."

Casey sighed and turned to look at her brother, who was pacing her floor. "What is it, Troy?"

He turned and looked his sister right in the eye, pausing his pacing for a second. "She likes another guy." The words came out in a rush, tasting bitter on his tongue. Another guy.

"Really?" Casey asked, doubtfully, as her brother resumed his pacing. She'd seen their arguments. She knew how attracted to Troy Gabriella was. "What exactly did she say?"

"Well, she agreed to be my friend. Then she asked me who I liked. I told her that I loved a girl, but I left out that it was her. Then she said that she'd just started to have feelings for one boy. That he's been in her life since she was little, but she's just started to see him in a new light. Then I asked her to describe him, and she said that he's absolutely gorgeous and that he's got a tough shell, but when you get through it, he's really sweet and gentle. But he'll never think of her as more than a friend and she knows for a fact he's in love with another girl," Troy said, glumly.

Casey rolled her eyes. "I know who she described."

"Really? Who?"

Casey laughed at her brother's inability to see things that were right in front of him. "Troy, it's really not that hard. She said that she knew him since she was little, but just started to see him in a new light. And that he's gorgeous and he can be really sweet and gentle once you get past the tough guy act. Right?"

"Yes. I just said that," Troy said, confused.

"She's describing you, smart one."

Troy was stunned. "It can't be me."

His sister sighed. "You've known her since she was little, right? And she said she's just started to see him in a new light. Like how she used to hate you, and now she likes you, at least as a friend. And, as much as I hate to admit it, you are hot."

Troy's eyes widened and his eyebrows went up. "I don't need to hear that from my sister," he said, a little afraid now.

Casey laughed and threw a pillow at him, which he easily caught. "_I_ don't think so. But every other girl does."

Troy smiled for the first time since Gabriella had told him about her mystery boy. "Okay, fair enough. But I still don't believe that she was talking about me."

She shrugged. "Fine, don't believe me," she said. And then, more softly, "Troy, what happened twelve years ago that was so bad?"

Now her brother just looked ashamed. "It wasn't anything big. I guess she just hurt my feelings." He sat down, cross-legged, on a chair and told his sister the story that he had hidden for twelve years.

_Flashback_

_It was Troy's fifth birthday party. Gabriella and Chad were there along with all of his other friends. His mother had just brought out a big chocolate cake with a red number five on it and everyone was singing happy birthday. At the end of the song, Gabi gave him a big hug and he blew out the candles._

_He knew exactly what he would wish for. "I wish that I could marry Gabriella when I grow up," he whispered, so soft that he couldn't even hear himself. Then he blew out all of the candles in one breath._

_After the cake, he and Gabriella were sitting together under a tree because she had wanted to sit down for a while and Troy just wanted to be with her _**(aww, he was so sweet even when he was five!)**

_"Brie?" Only Troy called her Brie. Everyone else had called her Gabi or Gabriella when she was five, but Troy would call her Gabs, Brie, Gabi, or Ella. It was his thing. _

_Her head turned to look at him, tearing her eyes from the clouds that they were looking at through the leaves of the tree. "Yeah?"_

_"When we grow up, will you marry me?"_

_Gabriella frowned. "But I wanna marry Danny. Can you marry two people?"_

_Troy frowned, too. "No, you hafta choose."_

_"Then I guess I choose Danny," she said, before getting up to join Danny, who was playing with everyone else. Troy looked only long enough to see her kiss his cheek before he looked back up at the sky, a tear rolling down his cheek, leaving a wet trail before it fell silently into the grass as he thought of the wish that was never to come true._

_**The Next Day**_

_Chad was the first to notice that Troy and Gabriella weren't speaking. He went up to Troy the next day at school to confront him. He wanted his two best friends to get along._

_"What's wong, Twoy?" he asked, "Is it something about Gabwiella?"_

_Troy nodded. "Yesterday she did something mean. She'll never be my friend again!" And with that, he went to the far corner of the elementary school playground to sit under a tall oak tree, angrily brushing away the tears that threatened to roll down his cheeks._

_End Flashback_

Casey was staring at Troy by the end of the story. "You mean," she whispered, "You loved her even back then?"

Troy shrugged. "I guess. I did as much as a five-year-old can."

"And neither you nor Gabriella told anyone what really happened?"

Troy shook his head, sadly.

"Did – Did you ever stop loving her?"

Silently, Troy shook his head again. "I forgot that I loved her for a while. But I don't think I ever stopped."

Unknown to both of them, a third person stood, listening silently, outside the door, tears streaming down their face.

**AN: Ooh, a mystery! I love mysteries. Who do you think the person was? I know Gabriella was a little blunt about not wanting to marry Troy, but she was five.**


	6. Gabriella's Mission

**Disclaimer: If I owned High School Musical, I would be in it instead of Vanessa Hudgens as Gabriella, and she would have a different part. Because I couldn't kick her out. And Zac Efron would have a LOT more shirtless scenes. And some of the other guys, too. Seriously, in HSM2 the guys sure did wear shirts a lot for summer in New Mexico. It's really hot there!**

**AN: Writing the next chapter! I don't really know where it's going, honestly. But hopefully it'll be good.**

_**Flashback**_

_Chad was giving himself his guys don't cry speech. It was the same one he had given Troy twelve years ago when he had found him under the oak tree at his party with tears streaming down his face and unwilling to tell him why he was so upset. As far as he knew, Troy hadn't cried since._

_He had gone to his friend's house to ask him what was up lately, because he was acting different at school that day. As he passed Casey's room on the way to Troy's, he had heard voices and paused to listen. He had heard everything, including what happened when they were five. And that Troy loved Gabriella. He had to talk to her._

_Gabriella heard a knock on her door and opened to see her best friend panting on her doorstep. She frowned at Chad and let him in. _

_"Where's the fire?" she asked him. He caught his breath._

_"I know."_

_She cocked her head and looked confused. "You know what?"_

_"What happened twelve years ago. Gabi, you crushed him that day. I don't think you realize how much. You need to apologize. I don't care if you mean it or not, just do it. He loved you, and –"_

_"And what?"_

_He shook his head. "Nothing. Just go tell him, okay?"_

_"Okay."_

_Chad suddenly realized that he was standing on Gabriella's doorstep at 10:00 at night and that he still had homework to do. "I'll see you later, Gabi."_

_He turned to leave and she shut the door behind him. Then she flopped down on her sofa and thought about what Chad had said._

_**End flashback**_

Gabriella was on a mission. Once she had told Troy how she felt about him – even though he didn't know she was talking about him – she had realized that she really did have feelings for him. Big ones. And then Chad had come and confirmed what she already knew she had to do. So now she was on a mission to apologize for what had happened twelve years ago.

When they were five, Troy and Gabriella had figured out a way to sneak out of their own houses and into each other's when their parents said they couldn't have playdates. She just had to hope that it would still work now.

Gabriella climbed down the big tree that was next to her balcony and padded down the street in her slippers. She found Troy's house easily, although it had been twelve years since she had been there. It was 1:00 am, so she knew that Troy would be in his room, asleep.

Troy heard the first rock hit his window. He wasn't asleep. He was awake, thinking about Gabriella. He quickly got out of bed and walked over to the window. He pulled it open and leaned out.

Gabriella stood below him in a Cookie Monster t-shirt and flannel baby blue plaid pants. His breath caught in his throat. She wasn't exactly wearing the sexiest clothes, but she looked breathtaking.

Gabriella knew she shouldn't be, but she was enjoying the sight of Troy's abs. He hadn't slept with a shirt on since he outgrew his Pokémon pajamas.

"Can you come down? I need to talk to you," Gabriella stage-whispered up to Troy, who was looking utterly confused. He nodded and quickly jumped out of his window and climbed down the strong ivy that climbed up his house.

"Wow. I haven't done that for twelve years," he mused. Then he looked at Gabriella and smiled. "I'm glad the ivy held."

Gabriella smiled back, reaching up to touch his cheek. Troy was startled, but he didn't brush her off. "Me, too," she said. "Listen, Troy, I need to tell you something." He nodded, waiting for her to speak. She took a deep breath.

"I'm really sorry for what happened all those years ago. I never really liked Danny, and I honestly don't know why I chose him. I guess I was just… scared." Her voice got quieter with each word, until she whispered the last one.

Now Troy was really confused. "Scared of what?"

"Of what I felt! Troy, there's a reason five-year-olds aren't supposed to have those feelings!" she almost shouted. Then, in almost a whisper, "They get scared off. There must have been something big between us, because five is awfully early to fall –"

"In love," he finished in a whisper. She nodded.

"I was crushed that you didn't speak to me. And when you started being mean I thought my life was ending. Eventually, I just learned to ignore my feelings because it was easier to hate you."

There were tears in his eyes now. "You hate me?"

"I never said that," she whispered. Then she quickly put her arms around him and covered his mouth with hers. They kissed in the moonlight for a few precious seconds before he pulled away.

"Huh?" He was now more confused than ever.

She smiled. "I'm tired of ignoring my feelings, Troy."

He sighed in relief. "Good, because so am I. Do you have any idea how I felt after you chose Danny over me? After that day, I was never the same. I got angry, I guess. That's why I was a jerk to people, and I took it out worst on you because you'd hurt me so badly. You have no idea how much I've missed you. I need you. And I know this is going to sound really weird because the day before yesterday I was calling you a freak, but will you be my girlfriend?"

Gabriella was stunned. Then happy. "Yes!"

Troy grinned and hugged her. He picked her up and spun her around. "You know, my feelings for you haven't changed since I was five." He was cautious about saying it, but it just seemed like the perfect time.

His girlfriend looked shocked. "You mean you still-"

"Love you," he finished. He braced himself for her answer, convinced it would be bad. To his surprise, she giggled and jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist.

"I still love you, too," she answered. He just grinned goofily and kissed her passionately.

"You have no idea what a relief it is to hear you say that," he told her, leaning down so that his breath tickled her neck. She just kissed him again. He returned the kiss and they sat there in Troy's back yard until dawn came.

**AN: What did you think of that chapter? I have to say, it was unlike anything I've ever written. I thought it was going to end completely differently, but there you go. That's just how speciaful I am. I can't even plan ahead by one chapter. Actually, all I was sure of at the beginning of the chapter was that Gabriella was going to apologize to Troy. But yeah. Hopefully you liked it. So, completely randomly, who can count how many times I used the word 'surprise(d)' or a synonym of it? What can I say, it was a surprising chapter. Well, for the characters at least. So… I'll update at 55 reviews. Not counting those that are three words or less.**


	7. Telling Everyone

**Disclaimer: If you could see me, you would see that I am not on Zac Efron's lap. So, no, I don't own HSM.**

**AN: How's life? If I didn't know where the last chapter was going, I REALLY don't know where this one's going. I know the first two sentences. Or less. So yeah.**

Troy drove his girlfriend to school that morning. They got out of the car and walked up to the front doors of school. Silently, they clasped hands. Troy looked down at her and brown met blue. She nodded, and together they walked through the big double doors of the school.

Silence. The crows of students hushed as they saw the basketball king, Troy Bolton, holding hands with his worst enemy, the geeky girl, Gabriella Montez.

Ignoring the stares, they walked together to Gabriella's locker. Troy looked down at her and then, putting his arms around her waist, he leaned down and kissed her. She put her arms around his neck, and for a single, blissful moment, they forgot that everyone was staring and pointing. All that existed was them and their love.

Finally, they broke apart. Troy looked over her shoulder at the rest of the school, daring somebody to say something. Everyone suddenly turned back around and talked amongst themselves, although undoubtedly about what they had just seen.

Satisfied, he leaned down and kissed her again. She smiled into the kiss. No matter what everyone else thought, as long as she had Troy it would be okay.

Unfortunately, they were interrupted by a tap on Troy's shoulder. He turned around, annoyed, to see Chad, his girlfriend, Taylor, and the rest of their friends: Kelsi, Sharpay, Zeke, and Jason. Chad's arms were crossed and his foot was tapping impatiently on the floor. One of his eyebrows was raised and a small smirk played at the corners of his mouth. His expression asked the question that all of them were burning to hear.

Troy glanced at his girlfriend before he told Chad what he wanted to know. "Me and Gabi sort of made up?" He said it more like a question than a statement.

"And then… andthenitoldheristillfeltthesamewayifeltaboutherwheniwasfiveandshesaidshefletthesamewayandiaskedhertobemygirlfiendandshesaidyesandit'sallokay."

Chad raised his other eyebrow.

Troy sighed. "I asked her to be my girlfriend and she said yes. And then I told her… (he felt a Gabriella squeeze his hand, giving him courage) I told her that I love her. And she said it back."

Taylor screamed and hugged Gabriella. Chad thumped Troy on the back, grinning. "I think I speak for all of us when I say that I've waited TWELVE YEARS to hear that! TWELVE FUCKING YEARS!"

It was Gabriella's turn to speak. "And we owe you an explanation. None of you but Chad know what happened in the first place."

Everyone looked at Chad, who shrugged. "I overheard Troy telling his sister."

Troy's eyes widened. "You heard that? The whole thing?"

Chad nodded. "Including the fact that you haven't stopped loving her for TWELVE YEARS."

Troy blushed. "That was for Casey's ears only."

"Anyway," Gabriella said, before the discussion could progress into an argument, "Meet in the music room at lunch and we'll tell you. Nobody goes in there, anyway, so we'll have privacy."


	8. Eight Weeks Later

**Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical. And now you've made me cry.**

**AN: SO… how's it going? I'm happy to say that I've been inspired, which is good because I might have gotten bored and ended the story. But now I'm really psyched to write this one chapter. So I'll keep writing!**

It had been eight weeks since Troy and Gabriella had gotten together. Eight weeks of kissing and giggling and just being together. Troy was remembering a particularly nice afternoon when he and Gabriella had watched a movie together before having a heated make-out session on his sofa.

Suddenly, he heard a voice behind him. "Hey, Troysie."

He turned dazedly around to see Kathleen, the head cheerleader and the school's biggest slut. "Oh, hey, Kathleen," he said, still thinking about Gabriella.

Kathleen walked over to him so that they were only inches apart, running her finger down his chest. "You know, I have something for you. I think you'll like it," she said seductively. Troy was oblivious to it, however. His mind was lost in his love for Gabriella. That's why he was completely surprised when Kathleen pushed her lips against his. He gasped into the kiss, which let Kathleen's tongue in. Her hands ran all over his body, while his just stayed limply by his side as he tried to figure out what was going on. A girl was kissing him and it wasn't Gabriella.

Just as he raised his hands to push her off, he heard a sob. He pushed Kathleen off and spun around to see Gabriella standing in the hallway, crying her eyes out.

"And to think I told you I loved you," she said through her tears. And with that, she turned on her heels and ran out of the hallway.

"Gabriella, wait!" he yelled after her. But it was too late. She was already gone.

He stood alone in the hallway, trying to hold back tears. What had just happened?

Gabriella spent her afternoon avoiding Troy's calls and crying on her bed. She didn't understand why this could have happened. Troy had said that he loved her. But people said things they didn't mean all the time. Obviously this was one of those times. Her phone buzzed again, this time with a text. She was about to delete it, but instead she decided to read it.

_Gabi. Please, I can explain everything. Just please, please talk to me?_

She wrinkled her nose. Boys were such liars.

Troy had come home, yelled at his sister, and slammed the door of his room. He called Gabriella twelve times and texted her. Then he turned off the music that he had been blasting and tossed aside the basketball that he had been holding. He left his room, slamming his door again, and walked into his sister's room. Casey raised her eyebrows.

"I thought you didn't want to talk about it?"

Troy couldn't take it any more. He collapsed onto her bed and sobbed. She hugged him and let him cry into her shoulder for a full ten minutes. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"

"Kathleen kissed me and Gabriella saw."

Casey looked astounded. "That slut!"

"You go to U of A. How do you know her?"

She rolled her eyes. "I was at East High last year. She was a slut then, too. But why didn't you push her off?"

Another few tears fell down his face. "I was thinking about Gabriella. She was coming on to me but I didn't notice. Then she kissed me, and when I gasped, she stuck her tongue in my mouth. And then when I figured out what was going on and was about to push her away, I heard Gabriella."

"Troy…"

"I don't know what to do, Case. My life is older; my world is crashing down around my ears. I can't live without her. I need her. And now she hates me."

Casey took her brother into her arms again. She let him cry for a while more before giving him her advice.

"Troy, this is going to be hard, but you have to give her some time. Let her friends talk to her. You'll just bug her by being all over her and trying to get her back or explain yourself. Let her approach you. Then you can say everything you want. But whatever you do, don't get mad. It'll just get you into deeper shit. Okay?"

He nodded. "I just miss her so much already. It's terrible having her hate me."

"She hated you two and a half months ago. You got over it when you were five, and you can wait for her now. You'll live."

He sighed. "Thanks, Case. I don't know what I'd do without you."

She smiled. "Neither do I." He hugged her one more time before heading back to his room.

**AN: So, what did you think? I liked this one, but it was sad and a little short for the amount of ground I covered, I thought. But still pretty good. **


	9. Phone Calls

**Disclaimer: GUESS WHAT?!?! I don't own High School Musical!**

**AN: Just to recap: Gabi and Troy have just broken up because a cheerleader kissed him. She doesn't realize that he's totally in love with her and that he didn't WANT the cheerleader to kiss him.**

Of course, the first thing that Gabriella did when she got home that day was go to her room and cry. The second thing she did was call Taylor.

"Hey, Gabi, what's up?" asked Taylor nonchalantly when she picked up the phone.

"He said he loved me!" sobbed her best friend.

Taylor was really confused now. "Yes, Gabi, we've already established that. Why is it a bad thing?"

"BECAUSE HE MADE OUT WITH KATHLEEN!"

Taylor had been lying on her bed, but at this she sat up straight. "What?"

"I was walking down the hallway and I turned a corner to find him making out with her. Her hands were all over him and they were _definitely_ using tongue."

"No way, Gabi. Troy loves you."

"Yeah, I thought so, too. But I guess I was wrong."

"Have you seen the way he looks at you?"

"Looke_d_ at me."

"Looks at you. Gabi, he loves you."

"Then why was he making out with Kathleen?"

"I don't know. But I'm going to find out for you, okay?"

"Okay, Tay. See you later."

"Bye. And don't get too upset. I'm sure there's an explanation."

Taylor hung up and instantly dialed Troy's number. She didn't know why she had it on her phone, but she did.

"Hello?" came the answer.

"TROY ANDREW BOLTON! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO GABRIELLA! SHE LOVES YOU AND YOU CRUSHED HER! IF YOU WANTED TO BE WITH THAT SLUT THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE JUST SAID SOMETHING! YOU ARE A TOTAL AND COMPLETE _ASSHOLE!!!!!!!!"_

She heard quiet sniffs and noises from the other end of the line. "Troy," she said, quietly now, "Are you… crying?"

"No," he said, miserably.

"Troy."

"Fine, I'm crying! Happy?"

Taylor frowned. "Why are you crying?"

"Maybe it's because the girl I love left me because I was such an idiot that I didn't realize what was happening!"

"You mean you really didn't kiss her?"

"No, Taylor. Why would I do that? I love Gabriella. I was standing in the hallway, but I was thinking about something else-"

"Troy."

"Okay, I was thinking about her. And then Kathleen comes up to me and starts coming on to me but I didn't notice because, as aforementioned, I was thinking about Gabriella. And then she kissed me. I gasped and she got her tongue into my mouth and I was too shocked to push her off me."

"Wow. I hate to say it, but that was stupid."

"I know that. You're not helping."

"So you love Gabriella but she thinks you cheated on her?"

"Yes."

"That's really bad."

"You think?" he asked, getting frustrated.

"Chill, Troy. I'm only trying to help."

"Sorry, I'm just upset."

"Hey, Troy?"

"Yeah?"

"What would you do if Gabriella died, or something happened to make sure that you'd never see her again?"

"I'll tell you but you can't laugh at me and you tell nobody. Understood?"

"Deal."

"I'd die," he said, simply, "I'd die of a broken heart."

"Troy…"

"You said you wouldn't laugh!"

"Troy that was the sweetest thing I've ever heard any boy say!"

"Oh," was all he could say. He blushed and scratched the back of his head embarrassedly, but of course Taylor couldn't see that.

"You really love her, don't you?" she asked him quietly.

"More than you know," he answered, truthfully.

"Well then," she said, her tone suddenly brisk, "We'll just have to get you guys back together, then, won't we?"

"You'd do that?"

"Of course I would. Anything for my best friend and the guy who's obviously so in love with her."

……………………….

"Dude, what the hell?" That was the first thing Chad said to Troy the next day at school. "I know you hate her, but this is lower than I thought you would go. I mean, all that trouble just to break her heart?"

Troy had promised himself he wouldn't cry at school, but tears were already filling his eyes.

"Chad, it's okay," Taylor told him, taking him by the arms and explaining what had happened.

Chad stared at Troy. "Sorry, man. I didn't hear your side of the story."

"It's okay," he said, still trying to hold back tears. He walked off to his first class.

Taylor was about to walk off, too, but Chad grabbed her arm. "I've never seen him like this."

"I know," she replied, "We've got to get Gabi to take him back."

Chad's face suddenly lit up. Taylor could practically see the light bulb appear over his head and couldn't help but chuckle. "Okay, Chad, what's your idea?"

"Okay, here's what we do…"

**AN: Okay, I've used this scenario before, but it won't be the same plan, I promise!**


	10. The Gym

**Disclaimer: I still don't own High School Musical. Big surprise, right?**

**AN: I'm watching Scrubs. It's pretty hilarious.**

"So you want me to be where?" Gabriella was asking Taylor on the phone at 7:45 am.

"I'll meet you right outside the gym at 3:30."

"Great. And remind me again why you're calling me about this at 7:45 am instead of just telling me when I see you in ten minutes?"

"Because," Taylor sighed, "It's important and I need you to be there."

"Fine, I'll be there."

"Okay, bye, Gabs."

"Bye, Tay."

Both girls hung up the phone and Gabriella went out to her car. She drove to school and pulled in the parking lot. She avoided Troy when she went to AP US history, which wasn't a problem because he wasn't in that class, anyway. She avoided him In Advanced 3-D Studio, which was again not a problem because he didn't have that class. She had Calculus third, with Taylor. Again, with no Troy. Unfortunately, she, Taylor, Chad, and Troy had Physics last together. Along with Kathleen.

Troy kept his head on his desk all through the first part of Mr. Conaty's lecture. Conaty was impossible to stop mid-lecture, luckily, and he didn't notice that Troy wasn't paying attention. Gabriella was taking notes as usual, trying to keep her mind off of her broken heart.

He also didn't notice that Kathleen was sitting next to Troy, pressing her body against his and batting her eyelashes flirtatiously. Kathleen started kissing his neck, finally, and Troy stood up and pushed her off of him.

"KATHLEEN! GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME OR I WILL BEAT UP YOUR BROTHER AND YOUR NEXT FIVE BOYFRIENDS SO HELP ME GOD!"

Everyone in the class stared at him, except for Mr. Conaty, who still went on with his lecture about terminal velocity. Nobody was taking notes any more.

"If you EVER come near me again," Troy growled, "I will make your life a living hell just like you did to mine." And, with that, he turned on his heel and stalked out of the classroom.

……………….

It was 3:29 and Gabriella was standing outside the gym, waiting for Taylor to show up. She could hear the voices of Troy and Chad talking just past the double doors, which were surprisingly thin and the opposite of soundproof. **(I could not for the life of me remember the word for the opposite of soundproof. It bugged me SO BAD)**. She was trying to tune them out, but couldn't help but pay attention when she heard her name.

"Dude, I know you liked Gabriella and all, but get over her. I mean, Kathleen's much hotter. Why don't you just go out with her?"

She heard the bounce of a basketball and Troy's astounded voice. "Because I LOVE Gabriella."

"Pft," Chad said. "Why would you love her?"

Gabriella heard the ball being thrown away. "Why do I love her? Where do I start? How about the way her forehead creases into a frown when she thinks I might be angry at her? How about the way she always thinks she's done something wrong even when there's absolutely nothing wrong? How about the way that she always knows what I'm thinking and never lets me lie about it? How about the way that I feel every time she comes within a foot of me: like I could fly as long as she was by my side. How about the fact that she's not afraid to say what she thinks, even if it will hurt her? How about the fact that the greatest moments of my life have been when I was kissing her, or holding her, or just being with her? How about the way that she smiles at the strangest moments and that when she laughs I just have to laugh, too, because I love her to pieces and I would do anything for her. And it makes me so happy when she's happy that I just can't help but laugh. You have no idea how much it's killing me that she won't speak to me because my life wasn't even halfway full until she came into it."

"Go to him," whispered Taylor who was by now at the sobbing Gabriella's side.

Gabriella pushed open the double doors and ran over to Troy, not surprised to see that his face was covered with tears, too. She ran into his arms and cried into his chest. He put his head down on her head and cried openly into her hair, something he hadn't done, especially not in front of Chad, for twelve years. Both of their bodies shook with the sobs. For fifteen minutes they cried, holding onto each other for dear life while Taylor and Chad watched silently from the bleachers.

Finally, Gabriella looked up into his eyes. "Did you really mean that?"

"Every word of it, Brie. I love you so, so, so much. You have no idea."

"Troy, what happened?"

"Remember that night we watched a movie and then –"

"No need to say it, Troy," she said, jerking her head in Chad and Taylor's direction, "I remember."

He smiled for the first time since she had broken up with him. "Well, I was thinking about that, reliving it, I guess, and Kathleen came up to me. She was coming on to me, but I didn't notice because I was thinking…" at this he dropped his voice so that his friends that were on the bleachers couldn't hear, "I was thinking about what an amazing kisser you are. And then she suddenly kissed me right on the lips. I mean, what would you do if somebody suddenly walked up to you and kissed you? I gasped, and she stuck her tongue in my mouth. I was too stunned to push her off. Gabi, I love you and you know I would never cheat on you. You're my life. Without you, I would be nothing; I would practically disappear. I'm not smart enough or good enough with words to express how I feel about you. I don't even know if there _are_ words to express how I feel about you. If there are, I don't know them. And I know I was stupid and I couldn't be more sorry. And I can't promise you that I won't make a mistake again, but I can promise you that I will love you with my whole heart for the rest of both of our lives, because nothing comes even close to halfway towards meaning as much to me as you do."

Gabriella was frozen. She stood there, staring at Troy with the same blank expression that was on both Taylor and Chad's faces. None of them had ever seen Troy open up like that; in fact none of them knew that Troy could even be so deep in his thoughts, let alone in words.

"Troy," she said, unable to say anything else for a moment, "I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything, Brie. Just say that you'll take me back."

"Of course I will, Troy! I love you more than I love or have ever loved everything else in the world combined. You're my everything and I would be nothing without you."

He picked her up and spun her around, before scooping her legs into his arms so that he was holding her, bridal-style, suspended above the ground in his strong arms. "If you're nothing without me and I'm nothing without you, then maybe, just maybe, if we stick together we can be something."

He put her down and put his arms around her while she put hers around his neck. They rested their foreheads against each other's and their noses just barely brushed. "I think," Gabriella whispered, "That together we can be everything."

He captured her lips in a perfect kiss. It was pure and true, with no lust or passion mixed in but simply with love, so simple and innocent that it brought tears to even Chad's eyes. When they broke apart, they again touched foreheads, gazing into each other's eyes. Nothing needed to be said. Because right at that moment, they both realized that if they died right then it wouldn't matter, because they had done what they had been sent on to Earth to do. Their lives were complete.

**AN: I really hope that wasn't too cheesy for you guys. Personally, I think that I've never written anything so deep. But in the end, you're the readers, and it matters more what you think of it. So please let me know! And, by the way, I know that Troy's cried before, just not much and not openly in front of anyone except for his sister.**


	11. Stargazing

**Disclaimer: Once upon a time, there was a movie called High School Musical. This movie was not owned by a girl called Emily. She also does not own any songs mentioned here. Or Scrubs.**

**AN: I'm so happy because Singing in the Rain was running through my head and I realized suddenly that it was the perfect song for this chapter! Yay!**

_I'm singing in the rain_

_Just singing in the rain_

_What a glorious feelin'_

_I'm happy again_

_I'm laughing at clouds_

_So dark up above_

_The sun's in my heart_

_And I'm ready for love_

_Let the stormy clouds chase_

_Everyone from the place_

_Come on with the rain_

_I've a smile on my face_

_I walk down the lane_

_With a happy refrain_

_Just singin',_

_Singin' in the rain_

"Troy!" yelled Casey from the next room, "Shut up!"

Her brother's head appeared around her door, grinning widely. "Case! She took me back!" His sister ran and hugged him before he lifted her up in the air and swung her around like a child. They both laughed and grabbed each other's wrists and began jumping up and down, squealing. They were so happy that they didn't notice the petite, brown-haired girl doubled over with laughter standing in the doorway until she let out a particularly loud chuckle. Troy instantly stopped happy-dancing and looked over to see Gabriella clutching his sister's doorframe for support. He blushed so deep that he resembled a beet **(RHYME ALERT!!! SORTA!!!)**.

"Um, for the record, that was only because of what happened this afternoon," he said embarrassedly.

"It's cool, Troy. Being able to happy-dance is on my top ten list of things a good guy does. Right up there with crying and being able to sing."

He blushed even deeper. "You heard that, too?"

She shrugged. "Your mom had cookies and I was delayed coming upstairs. It was amazing, for the record."

"Troy has such a good voice it's kind of sickening, but he'll only sing in front of us," Casey put in, rolling her eyes.

"Well I, for one, think it's very sexy," Gabriella said, walking over and putting her hands on his chest. She looked up into his eyes and saw the hunger in them. Not one to deny her boyfriend what he wanted, she kissed him passionately. He immediately responded, pulling her as close to him as he could by the waist as her hands moved to his neck. He ran his tongue along her lower lip and she obliged, opening her mouth and letting him explore its depths until Casey cleared her throat.

"Normally, I'd leave and let you lovebirds suck face, but this is sort of my room and I don't have to watch you make out, so I would appreciate it if you left before you get Troy's pants off. Now, I know Troy's a little love-struck, dazed, and confused, but his room is that way," she said, jabbing her thumb in the direction of her brother's bedroom. This time it was Gabriella's turn to blush and Troy's to laugh.

"Point taken. See you later, Case." He took Gabriella's hand and rushed her into his room, locking the door behind them. He looked at her, taking in her beauty. Then he walked up to her and slowly ran his hands down her arms, up her waist, and up and down her thighs.

"I've been waiting for so long to do this," he breathed. She brought her hands up, too, stroking his arms then his back then his chest lovingly.

"Hey, I have an idea," he said, taking her hand and leading her out to the backyard. It was a warm night, and the starts were in the sky. Troy lay on his back and Gabriella lay down beside him. For a while, they just gazed at the sky.

"The stars are so beautiful," she whispered breathlessly.

"Yeah, she is," he said, looking over at Gabriella. Instead of blushing, like she normally would, she just smiled and took Troy's hand. More time lapsed, with both teenagers happy just being with each other for a while.

"Brie?"

"Yeah?" she asked, still looking at the sky.

His voice was low, barely above a whisper, but in the silent night she heard it as if he had been shouting. "Why me?"

She turned so that she was facing him, her head propped up on her hand. "Because I love you," she said simply.

"It's just you could have anyone, I mean you're beautiful and smart and sweet, but you chose me. I'm just normal."

She giggled. "Ask any girl at school and she'll tell you you're not normal."

"I know, but you're not the kind of girl who goes for looks. So why me?" he repeated.

He turned his head so that he was looking into her eyes. "Troy… When I look into your eyes, I see the future. **(yup, that's from Scrubs, and I don't own it, sadly.)** I see marriage and babies and growing old together. But for some reason that doesn't scare me, even though I'm only eighteen and haven't ever thought about that stuff seriously before. I can tell that you're the one I want to be with forever. And after what you said in the gym today… well, nobody will ever say you're a lunkhead basketball man again, that's for sure."

He smiled softly and kissed her gently. "I love you, Brie."

At that exact moment, a shooting star crossed the sky. "A shooting star!" squealed Gabriella.

Troy chuckled. "It's a good omen. It means we'll be together forever."

Secretly, Mrs. Bolton watched her son and his girlfriend form the kitchen window overlooking the back yard. She heard her husband come up behind her and put his arms around her shoulders and smiled.

"Remember when we were like that?" she asked, still looking at her son, who was nuzzling his girlfriend's nose.

"Yeah," Jack answered, "Young and carefree. Not having to think about anything but each other."

Now Lucille turned to look at her husband. "What happened?"

He pulled her close, looking sadly at Troy. "The future happened."

**AN: I liked that chapter, I guess. I liked the beginning and the stargazing scene and the ending the best. Which leaves almost nothing that I didn't like so much. Now I'm depressed because the ending was so sad. It's not that Troy's parents don't love each other, it's that they don't have any time to do things like look at the stars. It would be great if you reviewed! And I'll try to update sooner next time – only one more chapter of Best Friends, which is too bad because I don't want to end it – and it'll be over and I can concentrate on this story and also on Over my Head. This one's going to end soon, anyway, though. Only a few more chapters to wrap up loose ends, and not much more drama. Please review, it means a lot to me!**


	12. Big Game

**Disclaimer: I'm very upset right now because I have to write about something sad and you're not helping by reminding me that I don't own HSM!**

**AN: So, last time I hope you noticed my little hint about the future at the end. And it breaks my heart to be writing about it because I am a BIG believer in living in the present, but time catches up with everyone and eventually we all have to grow up (or, if you're already grown up, grow old). So it's a subject I have to deal with, considering it's senior year. Okay, right now I'm saying that I am only a freshman and I know absolutely nothing about what colleges look for except for the obvious grades and extra-curriculars, and nothing else about college at all. And also, I know a couple of the lines in this are stolen from HSM2. They just… fit.**

It was four thirty and Gabriella heard her cell phone ringing. She grinned when she saw the caller ID and picked it up.

_Gabriella Speaking/__**Troy Speaking**_

_Hey, Troy, what's up?_

_**I have amazing news!**_

_What?_

_**I've been offered… wait for it… a basketball scholarship to U of A! Full ride!**_

_That's fantastic, Troy! _

_**I know, but what about our deal?**_

_You mean that we'd go to the same school?_

_**Yeah. I mean, it's always been you dream to go to Stanford, hadn't it? And I know you got accepted two weeks ago. So what do we do?**_

_We go to U of A. It's the perfect thing for you._

_**No, we have to go to Stanford! It's your dream!**_

_But it won't work if you don't have a scholarship. And there aren't any Stanford scouts at your games._

_**Not yet. Let's see how it goes. After all, after one college gives someone a scholarship, they all go after them.**_

_So you think we should just bide our time?_

_**Yeah, see our options. You never know.**_

_Okay, Troy. See you later._

_**Bye, Brie. I love you.**_

_I love you, too._

Gabriella hung up the phone, unsure how to react. Getting into U of A full ride **(his full tuition paid)** was great, but she had always wanted to go to Stanford. But she'd do what Troy said and she wouldn't panic until it was determined that Troy couldn't go to Stanford. He'd go anywhere if he had a scholarship. Gabriella's mother had plenty of money, so the finance of it wasn't an issue. She could choose where she wanted to go, and with grades like hers she had plenty of options. She sighed. She'd just have to wait and see what the future holds.

……………….

"All right! Defense, guys, defense!" yelled Jack Bolton, standing on the sidelines during a scrimmage including both the JV and Varsity teams. Finally, Troy got past Chad, who was on defense for the opposite team, and put the ball through the net just as Jack called time.

Chad sat next to Troy, grabbing a Gatorade **(don't own)** from a table and collapsing onto the bench. "Man, Coach is really working us today," panted the curly-haired boy.

Troy shrugged. "College scouts at our game on Friday. He wants us to play our best."

"Yeah, but you already got into U of A full ride. You don't need to worry about that anymore," Chad pointed out.

"I want options. And anyway, Brie wants to go to Stanford, and I'm hoping a scout will show up at some point. We're going to school together, and it's her dream to go to Stanford."

"It's your future."

"Yeah, and it's hers, too."

"Look, Troy," said Chad, starting to get a little angry now, "It's your life, your future, your dreams. You're in U of A. So no pressure, okay?" And then, in a lower voice, he added, "Leave some scholarships for the rest of us." He walked off, going to talk to some other players. But after only a few steps, he felt a hand on his arm.

"Is that what this is really about? That I got into U of A and you didn't?"

Chad sighed, turning around to face his friend. "My parents can't really afford much. I need this scholarship, from one school or another. You've got one. You don't even need one, really, your parents can afford college. And now you're talking about options and someone else's dreams. Troy, look around you. There are twelve varsity players, five of us are seniors. We all want a scholarship. I know you want to help Gabriella, but can't you just be happy with what you have for once?"

He tried to walk off again, but was stopped by Troy again. "That's bullshit, man, you'd know you'd get the same thing-"

"If I was as good as you?" finished Chad, definitely angry now.

"I never said that," said Troy, seriously.

"You didn't have to!" yelled Chad

"And neither did you!" Troy exploded. Then, calming himself down, he said, "Dude, let's not fight. Neither of us can do anything but try our best and hope that what we want will happen, right?"

"All right," Chad said, grinning. They did a guy handshake **(you know what I'm talking about, right?)** and ran back onto the court.

………………..

It was game day. The team were doing warm-ups in the gym, but there were about twenty people with notebooks watching them. Including one wearing a Stanford sweatshirt. They were doing free throws, but Troy was under so much pressure that he was missing them all, and little by little it built up until…

_POW!_ The ball crashed into the wall so hard after being thrown in frustration by Troy that it bounced full-court **(it went the long way) **all the way to the other side of the court, crashing into the wall there and rolling back to his feet. Troy took a deep breath and jogged over to the bench, drinking some water. He ran his fingers backwards through his hair. He usually dealt with pressure better than this. Then again, he'd never been under this much pressure. He sighed. He'd just have to make it through the game.

…………………..

"Time!" Jack Bolton signaled to the referee, and his team jogged to the sidelines. He beckoned to Troy and motioned for the rest of the team to give them a moment.

"What's wrong, son?" he asked gently. He knew this was the time to be a father, not a captain.

"Sanford scout's here. I don't care where I go, as long as I have a scholarship, but Gabriella's dream is to go to Stanford. If I can get a scholarship, it'll be perfect. But I'm playing like shit."

Jack patted his son's back. "I'm really sorry, but I'm going to have to bench you."

Troy looked at his father in disbelief. "I have to get this scholarship!" he yelled. Jack frowned at him.

"I'm sorry, Troy, but we're losing and I hate to say it but it's because of you."

Troy glumly took a seat on the bench and rested his head in his hands. He'd screwed up. He'd messed up both his and Gabriella's futures and ruined her dream.

………………

Somehow, Troy found himself at the after-party. He didn't want to go; to go to a party dedicated to the game that had killed his future was the last thing he wanted to do. But they'd won and, good or no good, he was the captain and he had to make an appearance. Gabriella was there, too, but she was kindly foregoing dancing with her friends to comfort Troy.

Suddenly, his phone rang. He quickly got up and walked out of the house, followed by Gabriella. He could still hear the bass thumping through the walls of Chad's house when he got outside and picked up his phone.

**Troy Talking/**_Scout Talking_

**Talk to me (I love that line!)**

_Hello, is this Troy Bolton?_

**Yeah, this is him.**

_My name is Andrew Michealson. I'm a talent scout for Stanford University and I'm calling to-_

**Tell me I messed up, I'm not getting the scholarship, and I will not be seeing any other scouts at my games any more.**

_No, actually I was calling to give you a second chance _**(I know that never happens. Just pretend it does)**

**What do you mean? Why?**

_We've heard great things about you, Mr. Bolton. And as a talent scout, I know all about the pressure. It gets to you. So I will be at one of your games this season, but to make it easier for you I'll just look like any other scout. No extra pressure. Okay?_

**Wow. Yeah, thank you!**

_Well then, I'll be seeing you at your game._

Troy hung up, elated. Gabriella looked at him, confused.

"They gave me a second chance," he said, still astounded. "They gave me a second chance!

He picked her up and spun her around. She giggled as her legs flailed out. He finally set her down and leaned down to gently kiss her.

"So the Stanford scout will come to another game?" asked Gabriella

Troy smiled. His forehead rested against hers, their bodies fitting together like pieces of a puzzle.

"I love you."

"I love you too, Troy."

**AN: FINALLY! It's over! Sorry for the hugely long wait! I had such a hard time writing this chapter and it still isn't any good! Grr.**


	13. A Day in the Park

**Disclaimer: Ugh. Don't own.**

**AN: OMG I saw Wicked last night (FINALLY!) and it was soooooooo good! Everyone must see that play. It was AMAZING, and I normally don't really like theater. Well, I do, but only really good ones. I've seen too many crappy ones. And I'm listening to the soundtrack right now. It's good!**

The basketball season was finally over. Troy knew a phone call would come any day now and tell him whether or not he'd gotten into Stanford. Throughout the season he had been offered scholarships to three other schools. Chad had gotten a scholarship to U of A, and he was going there in the fall. Gabriella did the best she could to calm him down, but she had her work cut out for her because he was so on the edge and frequently got snapped at. She knew it would get better when the call came, and she loved Troy enough to get through his annoying short-temperedness.

It was one sunny day in March, one of the first warm days they'd had since winter, that the call finally came. Gabriella was with Troy at the time, but she only heard his end of the conversation. They were lounging on a park bench and Troy struggled to take the phone out of his pocket because Gabriella's head was on his stomach.

"Talk to me………Yes, this is he………Uh-huh………Yes………Yeah, I know………No, not at all………Of course I understand………Okay………Goodbye."

"So?" asked Gabriella the second he closed his cell phone.

"So… what?" he teased.

She rolled her eyes. "Did you get a scholarship or not?"

"What makes you think that that was what I was talking about?"

She laughed. "You didn't use the words dude, man, or sick nasty at all during the conversation."

He chuckled as well. "Okay, it was the scout."

"So?"

"So… I got it!"

Gabriella squealed and it morphed into a giggle as he grabbed her waist and spun her around.

"We're going to Stanford," he said softly as he set her down gently in front of him. He said it with wonder, as if he couldn't believe it had really happened.

"We're going to Stanford," she repeated, smiling up at him.

"Your dream."

She looked down at his class ring, which she had worn for a few months now, twisting it around on her finger. "Well, I dunno. I think I've changed my mind. I kind of want to go to Harvard now…"

His face was utterly disbelieving. "Harvard? After all that I went through to get into Stanford, you suddenly change your mind on me?"

She broke into a grin. "Psyche!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. She doubled up, laughing so hard that she started crying. Mascara streaming down her cheeks, she looked into his eyes again. There was laughter behind the bright blue orbs, but he pretended to look offended.

"You should have seen your face," she managed to choke out.

He took one hand from her waist where they were still resting and touched it to his mouth, widening his eyes in mock surprise.

"Wow, Montez. You stoop low."

"Aww, is the wittle baby upset?"

He smirked. "Now you're in for it."

Gabriella quickly got out of his grasp and ran along the fields in the park, laughing. She spread her arms out like she was flying.

Finally, Troy caught up to her and, struck by sudden inspiration, got in front of her and turned to face her. Just as she was about to run into him, he picked her up and lifted her over his head.

Her ballet classes from when she was twelve kicked in and she kept her body rigid, holding her eyes out and facing upwards, feeling the sun on her face.

Troy turned slowly around, rotating her as he set her back down. He held her close and her hands automatically went around his neck. He rested his forehead against hers.

"What was that all about?" she giggled. He shrugged.

"I was inspired."

Her eyes followed his lips as he spoke and when they darted back up to meet his they were clouded with lust.

"I love you," she murmured.

He brought their lips together so they were barely touching, torturing her. "I love you, too," he whispered against her lips.

She finally got frustrated and pushed her lips against his, immediately parting her mouth enough to let her tongue out and push it into his mouth. He chuckled and pulled back.

"Feeling a little pushy?"

"It's not my fault," she pouted, "You teased me. And on top of that you're so sexy. I can't help myself. It's all your fault."

He put his hand to his heart. "That hurt, Montez. Don't you think it's hard for me to control myself around you?"

"As a matter of fact I do," she said, grinning.

He raised his eyebrows in question and she gestured to the tent in his pants. He groaned.

"That's okay," she said, stifling giggles, "It mostly happens when I'm here. I've, um, noticed it a lot when we're, um, near each other."

He turned red but smirked anyway. "You do things to me, baby."

She pushed him playfully in the chest. "We'd better get you home before anyone else notices that."

He nodded and picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder.

"Trooooy! Put me down!"

"Nope. You're being punished."

She reconsidered. "Actually, I have a great view of your ass from here."

"Great. So you want to carry me over your shoulder next?"

She giggled. "No, but I'll let you look at my ass when we get home, 'kay?"

"You'd better," he grumbled. They got to his car and he set her down carefully on the passenger's seat. He got in the car himself and pulled out of the park's parking lot.

Throughout the drive, she kept a hand on his inner thigh, very high up, driving him crazy. As soon as they got to his house he picked her up again, practically ran to his front door, quickly opened it and, once they were behind it, slammed it shut. He pressed Gabriella up against the back of the door and kissed her passionately. He ran his hand up her thigh and her short jeans skirt. She pulled back for a moment.

"Troy…. What about your parents?"

"Not here," he grunted. He kissed and nipped at her neck until she moaned out his name.

"Troy…. Troy, you need to stop." He immediately stopped, looking confused.

"Wait here," she said, walking into the bathroom. She emerged a moment later, wearing nothing but a lacy bra and panty set. After one glance, Troy squeezed his eyes shut.

"What's wrong, baby?" he heard her ask, as he felt her arms around his neck and her body pressed against his.

"You're a virgin now, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, if I look at you now I doubt you're going to be a virgin tomorrow."

She giggled and leaned in so that she could whisper in her ear. "Maybe I don't want to be a virgin tomorrow."

He kept his eyes resolutely closed. "Are you totally sure?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Seri-"

"God, Troy, just stop complaining and make love to me!"

He grinned and opened his eyes, taking in her beauty. "With pleasure."

**AN: I liked that chapter. Plenty of fluff. It was kind of funny because half of the time I was listening to all of this ultra-intense music from Wicked (Like March of the Witch Hunters and No Good Deed and As Long As You're Mine, for those of you who know the music). But I think it kind of balances it out, actually, so my writing isn't too insanely cheesy. And I'll be gone from Thursday to Sunday, just to let you know, for Thanksgiving. All this means is that, since I also have Over My Head to update, I might not have a chance to update this again before I'm gone. Then again, I have no school on Wednesday so I may be able to write some before I leave. Maybe. So thanks to everyone who's reviewed, it means a lot to me! And it would be great if you kept reviewing!**


	14. Chad's Surprise

**Disclaimer: I was in a positive mood today. Thanks for ruining it. I don't own anything.**

**AN: I'm sorry for the late update, but I went away for Thanksgiving, so yeah.**

Troy awoke the next morning to his door being flung open and an excited yell of "Troy! Hoops!" from Chad. Troy opened his eyes groggily to see his best friend staring in horror at him. He was confused for a moment before he felt Gabriella's naked body pressed up against his, underneath the covers thankfully, and the memories of the previous night came flooding back in a rush. He buried his bright red face in the comforter. Finally, he leaned over and gently shook Gabriella awake. Bad idea. She sat up fully, exposing her bare chest. Troy quickly covered her with the comforter, but Chad had seen everything. Completely oblivious, she looked confusedly over at Troy. She spotted Chad still standing in the doorway and squealed before diving under the covers.

"Dude. Get out of my room," Troy said with as level a voice as he could manage. Not needing to be asked twice, Chad fled from the room. Troy looked under the covers to Gabriella.

"He's gone."

Gabriella sat up again. "I'll never be able to look at him again now he's seen me topless," she declared.

"I know. He'll never let me hear the end of this."

Somehow Gabriella managed a giggle. "I guess we should go," said Troy, "Before he thinks we're having another round or something."

Gabriella smiled and got lazily out of bed, stretching luxuriously and walking over to the drawer where she always kept a change of clothes. Troy stared in awe. "God, Brie," he murmured, "You're so beautiful." She giggled, and laughed harder when she felt his hands around her waist.

"Troy. What about "He'll think we're having another round"?"

Troy nuzzled his nose into her neck. "What if we are having another round?"

Gabriella giggled and gently pushed him off her. "Not with Chad waiting."

She opened a drawer and got out clothes for both her and Troy. She tossed him a pair of jeans and some boxers along with a red and white shirt. "Go take a cold shower," she said, glancing downwards. He caught the clothes and headed into the en suite. Gabriella took her own clothes and a towel into another bathroom.

When she emerged ten minutes later, she went downstairs to find Troy and Chad sitting silently on the sofa. Since they normally talked a mile a minute, Gabriella figured that that morning's events had gotten to Chad. She sighed and sat down on Troy's lap, facing the dark-skinned boy.

"How bad was it really? It's not like you didn't guess we were sleeping together." Both boys seemed stunned by how forthcoming she was.

"Yeah, but when I came to get Troy to play hoops I didn't exactly expect to find you two naked in his bed."

"We wouldn't have been naked if you'd knocked," she pointed out.

"Gabi, I've been going to Troy's house every Sunday morning since we were five to play basketball and I've _never_ knocked on the door."

At this point, Troy felt the need to say something. "Yeah, but I've never let a girl stay here overnight before. You know I love Brie. I wouldn't kick her out."

Gabriella turned to Troy in shock. "You've kicked girls out in the middle of the night?"

"Well, normally I don't want them messing up my room so I don't let them into my house at all. I've only made a girl leave twice."

Troy expected a lecture, but to his surprise she just giggled. "No way. Who?"

He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Katie Larsen and Kate Frydman," he said. She laughed.

"I don't blame you, they're total sluts." Troy chuckled.

"Yeah, I know. I forgot Katie's name halfway through. It wasn't pretty."

She leaned her head back into his chest and whispered in his ear. "How good was she?"

"Not even close to half as good as you," he murmured into her ear. Unfortunately, this was heard by Chad.

"Stop now. Please." Troy chuckled.

"You're totally like that with Taylor. You're all over her!"

"Oh, no, my friend," he said, pointing at Troy, "Never on a Saturday night."

Troy turned to Gabriella. "Could you excuse us for a moment? We need to have a guy talk." She nodded before kissing him quickly and walking out of the room. Troy watched her go, mesmerized. He ran his fingers backwards through his hair absent-mindedly.

"Dude. Why on a Saturday night?"

Troy turned his attention back to his best friend. "She decided she was ready yesterday."

"Still, though, you didn't have to jump her. You could've waited until after we shot hoops."

"Chad. She came out of the bathroom in underwear. I mean, you saw her. You have to admit she's hot."

"Yeah, but-"

"So if Taylor came up to you almost naked on a Sunday night and practically dry humped you, you would've said no?"

Chad sighed. "Fine, you win. But only because of the Taylor thing. Any other girl-"

"I know, I know." He shouted out to Gabriella. "Brie, you can come back in now!" His girlfriend came in and sat on his lap again, this time straddling his legs and facing him. Troy took a deep breath to control his instincts in front of Chad and placed a hand on her lower back.

"Sorry, man, I don't think hoops will work today."

Chad shrugged. "I'll leave you two alone to do… I don't even want to think about it." He shuddered and left the house. Troy instantly covered his girlfriend's mouth with his. She kissed him back, even grinding on him a little.

"Brie… When did you get so good at this?" he gasped. She just smiled in response.

"Have you got another condom?" He pulled a handful of Trojans out of his pocket. Needing no invitation, she dived on top of him.

"Why the rush?"

"The whole time Chad was here I wanted to kiss you and I couldn't. Well, not really. And I couldn't, you know, touch you, so…"

He chuckled. "I hate to break it to you, but school is seven hours long and you can't be jumping on me in the hallways."

She smiled mischeiveously. "Not in the hallways." He grinned and kissed her again. This time he leaned over on top of her so that they were lying on the sofa with him on top of her. He pulled her shirt over her head and she did the same with his. He removed her bra expertly and kissed between her cleavage. She reached down and undid the button on the top of his jeans.

Suddenly, they heard someone clear their throat. Gabriella quickly rolled over onto her stomach so that Jack Bolton, home early from his business trip, couldn't see her bare chest as Chad had done. Troy sat up, forgetting that his pants were undone.

Jack was quietly fuming. "Both of you get dressed and come into the kitchen. _Now._" He left the room.

"Shit," muttered Troy. Gabriella sat up and started searching for her bra. She found it and hastily put it on, followed by her shirt. Troy zipped up his pants and pulled his shirt over his head.

"I can't believe you forgot your father was coming home!" she hissed.

"You didn't help! You were seducing me!"

"Don't pretend like this is my fault!"

He sighed. "Let's not fight now. We have my dad to fight with."

She nodded and took his hand, squeezing it gently. They walked together towards the kitchen. Just before they opened the door, Gabriella made to drop Troy's hand, but he just held hers tighter.

"He needs to know we're in this together," he whispered. She nodded again and they walked into the kitchen to see Jack sitting at the table.

"Sit down," he ordered. They sat down next to each other and Troy gently rested his arm on Gabriella's shoulders.

"What the hell? I go away for two nights, just one weekend, and I come back to see you two… Were you even planning on using protection?"

"Yes! Dad, I-"

"You're seventeen years old, Troy! Practically a child!"

Troy got frustrated. "No, I'm not! I'm far from a child! So I had sex with my girlfriend like every other guy on the face of the planet! So what? She's not pregnant or anything, we made sure we were safe and everything!"

"You aren't until you're ready to be mature and accept responsibility!"

"FOR WHAT? It's not like I'm the only guy my age to have a girlfriend!"

"But they aren't having sex with-"

"YES THEY ARE! They are! I bet you there are no more than three guys in the senior class who are virgins!"

"Well, that's their parents' descision. As for you, I don't believe you're old or responsible enough!"

Troy snorted. "That ship has sailed. I lost my virginity when I was fifteen."

Jack shook his head. "What about Gabriella?"

Gabriella paled at being brought into Troy's argument. But Troy answered for her. "Gabi doesn't have to tell you anything. That's between me and her, and her mother if she wants to know."

"Did you even consider her feelings?"

"How could you say I wouldn't consider her feelings? I _love_ her. I would give the world for her!"

"Or you're taking advantage of her and saying that for show."

"Oh yeah?" he growled. And with that, he raced up to his room. Surprised at his son's sudden exit, Jack said nothing. Troy returned a few minutes later holding a box. He sat down next to Gabriella and turned to face her.

"Two years ago, the East High basketball team won the championship. As a congratulatory gift, Dad gave us each championship rings. We already had the class rings. Anyway, we made a pact. We would let our current girlfriends wear our class rings, but we would give the championship rings to the girl we pictured ourselves spending the rest of our lives with. We told the whole school so that they'd leave any girl wearing one alone. To this day, no girl has ever been asked to wear the championship ring." Troy took a deep breath. "Gabriella, I would be honored if you would wear my championship ring." Gabriella's eyes widened for a moment.

"Troy… I…"

"It's okay if you don't want to, it's just-"

"Yes! Of course I'll wear it!"

Troy got a huge, goofy grin on his face as he pulled Gabriela towards him. He embraced her and held her tight for a moment or so.

"That means so much to me," he said softly. Gabriella smiled and pulled away, aware that Jack was still watching.

Jack held his hands up. "I surrender. You really must love her. But no sex in my house, okay?"

Troy nodded. "Agreed." With that, the young couple left the room. Troy led Gabriella up to his room and they sat together on his bed. Gabriella looked sadly up at him and pressed the championship ring into his hand.

"Troy, I know you just did that to get your dad off your back, so it's easier if I just give the ring back to you now."

But Troy put the ring back on her finger and cupped her face, forcing her to look into his eyes instead of at her feet. "I meant every word I said back there. I thought you did, too."

She smiled a little. "Of course I did. I love you, Troy. But I mean the rest of your life… I won't be offended or anything if you want to take the ring back."

He looked right at her. "Never." And he leaned down and gave her an earth-shattering kiss, filled with love.

**AN: I actually really liked this chapter. The Chad thing was just sort of a joke; obviously the point of this chapter was the whole championship ring thing. And I guess that Troy's dad now knows they're having sex. But whatever. Please review! **


	15. Word Travels Fast

**Disclaimer: Okay, let's go through this again. My name is Emily, and I don't own High School Musical.**

**AN: I'm actually really excited to write this chapter.**

It was Taylor who noticed the championship ring first. Instead of bragging about it, Gabriella had opted to keep her mouth shut and wait for people to notice the ring on their own. That was why, in the middle of lunch, Taylor suddenly screamed.

"Oh my god, Gabi," she breathed, "Is that a _championship ring?_"

Unable to hold in her excitement any longer, she squealed, "Yes!"

The rest of the girls screamed. "Oh my God, Gabi! Do you know what that means?" asked Sharpay. Gabriella grinned and nodded. Chad stared at her hand in shock. His own ring was still in its box somewhere in his room.

He nudged Troy, who was sitting beside him. "You gave her the ring?"

"Yep," answered Troy.

"Dude," Chad asked, dropping his voice, "Did you mean it?"

Troy looked over at Gabriella who was laughing with her friends. "Completely. And I wouldn't take it back for the world." Chad grinned and thumped him on the back.

"Then congratulations, man. You finally found her."

"Gabriella, you realize he pretty much asked you to marry him. I mean, someday," Taylor pointed out.

"I know!" she squealed, "Isn't it amazing?"

Taylor sighed. "I wish Chad would give me his. But it's a big step. I'm not going to push him or anything."

"I didn't even know what it meant until Troy explained it to me. It was actually kind of weird. His father caught us…. well, half-naked. And then he and Troy got into a huge fight and his father accused him of not caring about me and then he gave it to me. I thought it was just a cover, but when I asked him he promised it was for real."

"That is so sweet!" exclaimed Sharpay.

Taylor, always the sharp one, realized what she'd been implying. "Does that mean what I think it means?" she whispered.

"Didn't Chad tell you?" asked Gabriella, eating a bite of pasta.

"How would Chad know?"

Gabriella glanced at Chad, blushing. "Well we were asleep… you know, together… when Chad came barging into Troy's room without even knocking. Troy woke me up, but I didn't know that Chad was there, so I, um, sat up. And your boyfriend saw everything. It was _really_ awkward."

"Oh my God!" Kelsi gasped, "He didn't!"

Gabriella cringed. "Unfortunately, he did." She could tell that the boys had overheard the conversation because Chad and Troy were blushing furiously and Jason and Zeke were gasping for air because they were laughing so hard.

"I _never_ want to see Gabi naked again," proclaimed Chad.

Gabriella glanced at Taylor, concealing a smile. This would be fun.

"What are you saying, Chad, that I'm not attractive?"

"No, I mean I'd like to see you naked if-"

"So if Gabi let you you'd cheat on me with her?" demanded Taylor

"No - I mean maybe if we weren't dating – I mean I'd much rather see you naked-"

"So you don't like me at all you just want to have sex with me?"

"No, Tay, I like you for you!" The two girls burst into laughter.

"We're just messing with you, Chad, don't worry," laughed Taylor.

"Yeah, Chad, we all want to see Gabi naked but-"

Gabriella turned to her own boyfriend. "So that's all the sex thing was, huh? Something to brag to your friends about?" She said it in a joking manner, but Troy wasn't fooled for an instant. He knew that this was really bothering her. He instantly turned his chair to face her and reached out to touch her cheek gently.

"No, Brie. That's not it at all. I love you; you know that. It had nothing to do with them," he told her, jerking his head towards his friends who were pretending not to listen.

"I know," she said, "It's just that's it's so hard to believe that someone like you would fall for someone like me." Troy cupped her face in both hands and kissed her gently to aww-ing from the girls.

"Well, believe it, because I've fallen harder than if I'd fallen off a cliff," he smiled at her. She hugged him, squeezing him tight.

"I don't think I know anyone cheesier than you," she giggled.

"You know you love it," he whispered huskily into her ear.

"You want to go find somewhere that isn't a hallway? **(remember? Throwing herself at him in a hallway?)**"

He grinned. "Sounds perfect." He took Gabriella by her hand and they stood up.

"We're going somewhere where we can talk privately," he announced. Chad snorted.

"Talk. Yeah, right." Troy shrugged and led his girlfriend out of the cafeteria to their special spot.

Their special spot was above the science block. It was a beautiful rooftop garden full of trees and beautiful flowers. At the end was a bench and this is where the couple sat together, Gabriella leaning against Troy.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes, just gazing into space, before Troy finally looked down at Gabriella, nestled against his chest. Her dark brown curls cascaded down his arms and her chocolate brown eyes looked up to meet his bright blue ones. "I love you, you know that?" he asked her.

Gabriella nodded. Troy cupped her face in his hands again and kissed her. He had meant it to be just a short kiss – he really had meant what he said about coming up to talk – but it progressed until Troy lay on top of Gabriella on the bench, supporting his weight on his forearms to be sure that he didn't crush her, kissing her fiercely. When they finally broke apart, both teenagers were panting for air.

"The best part is that Chad can't interrupt us because he has no idea that this place even exists," chuckled Troy.

………………

"Word travels fast." Those were the words that Kate Frydman greeted Gabriella with when she and her posse cornered her by her locker. Kate was the head of the cheerleading squad, and she had the whole squad as minions.

"What do you mean?" demanded Gabriella.

"You slept with Troy Bolton. God, you're such a whore."

There were mutters of agreement and calls of "slut" and "skank" from the cheerleading clones.

Gabriella snorted. "Like you haven't. Actually, he told me about you. He kicked you out of his house in the middle of the night, apparently."

"What happened two years ago has nothing to do with now."

Gabriella laughed. "You mean you slept with Troy when you were fifteen and here you're calling _me_ a whore? Troy loves me and I love him. I don't expect you to understand, but that's the way it is."

"Yeah right, he doesn't love you. If he loved you he would have given you-" Suddenly she spotted Gabriella's ring. "-his championship ring," she whispered. Kate burst into tears and raced off. Her clones glared at Gabriella for a moment before following her. Gabriella smiled smugly. She didn't like making people cry, but in this case it had to be done.

"Why was Kate crying?" asked Troy, coming up behind Gabriella and putting his arms around her waist. Gabriella turned to face him and put her own arms around his neck.

"She just realized she's lost her favorite toy."

……………………

Kate was right about one thing, though. Word really did travel fast. By lunchtime the next day, _everyone_ knew about the championship ring. For the first time, Troy and Gabriella could walk down the hallways without glares and rolled eyes all the time. Not that anything all that bad had happened when they were just together, because Troy would pulverize people who got in the way of their perfect relationship, or that people had stopped talking about them because it was obvious that they hadn't. It was that people respected them as a couple and stopped thinking that Gabriella was just another one of Troy's "girls."It felt good to be able to walk down the halls, hand In hand, without people snorting at them.

Not that they particularly noticed, though. They had grown even closer in the few weeks since Troy had given her the ring. In fact, they were so infatuated with each other that Troy had figured out his schedule so that when he had a free period and she had a class he asked the teacher if he could sit next to her and do his homework while she did Calculus or whatever. They walked around school in their own little world. Sometimes, they had to be told two or three times to do something because they were lost in thought.

It was a Friday afternoon that they sat down to lunch to be greeted by the welcoming, "Get a room," from Chad when Gabriella sat down on Troy's lap. They just laughed and started eating their lunches. It was almost summer - in fact it was only a week from graduation. Gabriella had somehow pulled off valedictorian and Troy had somehow pulled off getting straight As, which he only achieved with massive amounts of help from Gabriella. In the fall, Taylor was going to MIT and Chad was going to U of A, meaning that he and Taylor would be pretty far apart. But they'd agreed that they'd give the long distance relationship a try. Kelsi was going to the Manhattan School of Music. Sharpay was going to Penn State to major in theater. Jason was going to UCBurkle and Zeke was going to UCDavis, which was fairly near Burkle. They'd agreed that every Thanksgiving they'd all go to New York and every summer they'd go to California. They'd all come back to Albuquerque every winter to spend the holidays with each other and with their families. Then they'd agreed never to speak of it again.

Everyone had reacted differently to the upcoming separation. Troy and Gabriella were excited, knowing that they would still be able to see their friends three times a year **(I know that doesn't sound like that much, but that's more often than I get to see my grandparents)** and see each other every day. They were constantly looking through brochures and leaflets. Both Chad and Taylor never spoke of it, after resolving to just enjoy their last few months together and not think of the future. Everyone knew the separation would be hardest for them. Jason had glumly told Troy one afternoon that he would never get the chance to ask Kelsi out because he didn't want to hurt her when they went to their separate schools. They couldn't be further from each other while remaining in the same country. Zeke, on the other hand, had taken this opportunity to ask Sharpay out, something that he'd been longing to do for months but hadn't been able to get the courage up to do. He said that, since he would hardly ever see her any more, why not take the chance?

"So, are you guys looking forwards to summer?" asked Sharpay, who was sitting on Zeke's lap. To be fair, Chad had also requested that they got a room, but he had again been ignored. Everyone nodded or smiled except for Jason who was staring longingly at Kelsi. This was the last straw for Chad, who was outgoing enough to make up for Jason's shyness.

"I can't take it any more!" he said, standing up. "Kelsi, Jason is hopelessly in love with you and would like to know if you would like to go see a movie on Friday," he grinned. Kelsi looked over at a bright red Jason, who nodded. She couldn't help but giggle.

"I'd love to, Jason. Thank you."

"No problem," Chad answered for the still-speechless Jason.

"So, Chad, what movie will Jason and I be seeing?"

"A horror movie. So you can grab him during the scary parts," Chad grinned. Gabriella, Sharpay, and Taylor all simultaneously hit him. Chad tried to rub his head, bicep, and shoulder at the same time.

"No way," said Jason, "We'll see whatever Kelsi wants to see." Chad threw up his arms in submission.

"Fine! But when you're trying in vain to get up the courage to put your arm around her or whatever, 'cause I know you will, you can think of how she would be sitting in your lap at that moment if you had taken my advice."

Everyone laughed as Chad sat back down and crossed his arms, even a reluctant Jason. He took Kelsi's hand and led her to an empty classroom.

"Kels, are you sure you're okay with this? I don't want to force you to go out with me."

"I'm sure, Jason. And do you really want to date me? I mean, I know you said so, but Chad sort of asked for you."

"No, I'm positive I want to. I would have asked earlier, but I wasn't sure you'd say yes and I was worried about what would happen when we left in the fall."

Kelsi sighed. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Well, it won't matter unless you're officially my girlfriend…"

"I'd love to be your girlfriend. So do you want to talk about it now?"

"I think we have to."

Kelsi sighed. "You're a guy, so it'll be hard for you to do the long distance thing. It's just a fact. So do you want to say that as soon as we leave it's non-exclusive?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that we're a normal couple until we leave in the fall but then we can go out with other people if we want. And then when we see each other at thanksgiving we'll re-evaluate. It shouldn't be too bad. It's only two and a half months." Jason smiled at her and kissed her forehead.

"I don't think I'm going to want to date other girls."

Kelsi smiled at him. "Me, either." Jason gave her a strange look. "No, I mean date other guys… not girls… you know what I mean."

Jason grinned. "Yeah," he breathed, lamely. He stroked her hair gently before leaning in to kiss her. It was so gentle, so caring, that Kelsi was stunned for a moment. It was short, too; it only lasted for a moment before Jason pulled back, smiling sheepishly. Kelsi was still breathless. She touched two fingers to her lips. It was going to be an interesting summer.

**AN: Ugh this chapter was really hard to write! Someone asked to see more Zekepay and Jelsi. I normally don't put those couples in, but I think in this case it works. So, right now there are two options. Next chapter is graduation, obviously. So either I can end it there or keep on writing and do summer and maybe even their college lives. Only problem is that I'm only a freshman and I know exactly one person in college (my cousin Tyler is a sophomore), so it wouldn't be very accurate. But as long as you guys don't really care about that, I think it would work.**


	16. Graduation and Graduation Party pt I

**Disclaimer: I am sitting on a beanbag chair right now, not Zac Efron's lap. Does that answer your question?**

**AN: I decided to be lazy yesterday and not write. But I'll hopefully get this chapter up tomorrow. No promises because it's Hanukah and so I don't have as much time to write. As for the two stories I'm going to start (The Life and Times of Kira Bolton, sequel to Best Friends for those of you who read it and A Week in Paradise (see my profile for details)) after the vacations – so a little after New Years'. I've already started writing both of them but I don't want to just get one or two chapters up before leaving for two weeks. So I'll work on this one until I leave and then I'll start the other two when I get back.**

"Graduation." The word buzzed through the senior class as they waited in their caps and gowns to enter the huge gym (There wasn't enough room in the auditoriom for the whole high school plus the family members and friends of the whole senior class). Gabriella was standing next to Taylor, because their names coincidentally were right next to each other in when the grade was alphabetically ordered **(Did that make sense?)**. They were psyched to graduate and for summer. But right now they just wanted to get it over with.

Finally, they were allowed to file into the gym into the chairs provided. When they were all settled, Mr. Chodle, the class dean, started reading out names. When it was Gabriella's turn to go up onstage and collect her diploma, she almost tripped in her two-inch heels. Her hands were slightly damp with sweat when she shook the hands of the Dean of Students, the High School Principal, and the class dean. The Dean of Students handed her her diploma. She tried to smile at him before making her way back to her seat.

And suddenly it was over. It was kind of strange – the ceremony ended and there was a short reception, and then suddenly it was summer.

But there was, of course the after-party. It was traditional that every senior goes to the after-party, but that wasn't the main idea of it. The idea was that the seniors were adults. So on graduation day, every guy who had a girlfriend rented a room at a hotel for the night. It was just status quo. Gabriella knew for a fact that Chad had a room at the Alberquerque Inn, which was a nice little hotel. Zeke had a room at the Holiday Inn. It wasn't nice at all, but it was the best he could afford and to be honest Sharpay didn't mind that much. After all, she could stay at a nice hotel any time. But Troy… Gabriella smiled dreamily at the thought. He had taken her aside one day and told her that he would give her the best night of her life. She completely believed him – she would trust him with her life, so why not trust him with one night? All that she knew is that he was taking her to the Four Seasons Alberquerque. **(Don't own any hotels mentioned in this paragraph).**

But now Gabriella, Taylor, Sharpay, and Kelsi were getting ready together. They left school at noon and the boys were picking them up from Sharpay's mansion at eight. That wasn't even close to enough time.

The first place the girls went was the beauty parlor to get facials, waxing, and manicures and pedicures. They left at three to go get their hair done. They finally left the hair salon at five. They took a cab back to Sharpay's house and arrived at five thirty, with just enough time to get dressed and for Javier, Sharpay's makeup artist to see them.

Each girl had already picked out her outfit for the party – with the other girls' consultation, of course. Sharpay wore a pink halter neck dress with a very short bodice that had a skirt with layers cut in various angles that ended at different places from the middle of her thigh to almost at her ankle. She wore silver heels. wore a simply cut white, strapless dress with a bow at the waist and circular patterns. She wore soft pink wedges that her friends had talked her into buying because they made her look taller. The only jewelry she wore was a simple silver bangle at her wrist.  wore a black, strapless, knee-length dress with a blue flower at the top of the bodice and a blue ribbon around the wait. She wore silver hoop earrings and a silver chain with a small "T" charm that Troy had given her. On her feet she wore black heels.

http://sc7img. wore a red, knee-length dress. It had a big bow at the back. She wore black heels and a silver bracelet and matching necklace.

http://images. the girls admired each other's outfits, Javier entered the room.

"Ready, ladies?" he asked the girls, a smile on his face. The girls nodded excitedly.

"All right, then, I'll take… you first," he said, pointing to Kelsi. She smiled nervously at her friends and sat down at the dressing table that Javier had set up. He took out brushes and pots and tins of stuff and started smearing it on Kelsi's face and neck, instructing her to sit still.

"Voile!" Javier said twenty minutes later. Kelsi turned around nervously. The girls squealed. She had a natural look, with mostly beige and light pink shades of makeup. She looked stunning, as Sharpay assured her.

"Okay, I'll take you next," Javier said, indicating Taylor. Taylor sat down confidently and fifteen minutes was revealed to the rest of the girls. She had gold makeup on.

"Tay, you look amazing!" squealed Gabriella. It was her turn next. She sat down on the stool, a little nervous. Javier examined her.

"Hmm, there's a few ways we could go for you. What kind of look are you going for?"

"Well, I want to look beautiful. And mature. And I want my boyfriend to be all over me," she blushed. Javier smiled.

"We'll give your boyfriend something to look at, that's for sure." And he started on her makeup. It took him almost half an hour, but when she was told to look at her reflection it paid off.

Gabriella had never thought of herself as sexy, but that was what she looked like. She grinned, and then laughed. With this makeup job, even her goofiest grin looked like a sexy smirk. She walked out to find her friends eagerly waiting in anticipation.

"Gabi!" squealed Sharpay, "You're a babe!" Gabriella smiled and they all laughed.

"Okay, Shar, you're last!" said Javier. He took only ten minutes with Sharpay's makeup because he'd done it several times before. But she still looked fantastic at the end. Her eyes and lips were pink and sparkly. Her whole face was sparkly in fact, because she had body glitter smeared all over it and her neck. The girls squealed and then talked excitedly, waiting for the boys to come. Finally, the doorbell rang and the butler showed the guests upstairs.

Troy, Chad, Zeke, and Jason just stood there at the door, their jaws practically by his feet. Sharpay just took Zeke into a corner and started making out with him. Although Zeke was totally head over heels for her, Sharpay considered him more of a boy toy – although she did care for him a little.

Leaving the other two boys to stare in awe, Gabriella took Troy's hand and led him to the room next door. But he was apparently still in shock, because he just stood there frozen after she placed him, sitting on the bed. She grinned. She could have some fun with this. She walked over to the bed and leaned over her boyfriend. Her dress wasn't as low-cut as Taylor's or Sharpay's, but when she leaned over like that he had a perfect view of her chest. He was practically drooling as she hitched up her dress enough to straddle him. She lightly rested her forehead against his and waited for him to recover enough to speak.

"God, Brie…" he whispered hoarsely after a few minutes, "Wow. I mean you look so… I… You're just… wow. I love you."

Gabriella giggled. "Did you say that just because of what I'm wearing?"

"Will what I say affect weather or not you sleep with me tonight?"

"Maybe."

"I said it because I was just thinking of how much you mean to me," he grinned cheekily.

"Liar."

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean I didn't mean it. It just means that how you look reminded me of it!"

She grinned at Troy. He really did clean up well. He was just wearing jeans and a collared shirt like every other guy, but he looked gorgeous.

"What are you thinking about, baby?" he asked.

"How sexy you look."

"No way, same here! Are you sure we have to wait-"

"Yes, l'm sure. What happened to the best night of my life?"

"It will be the best night of your life. I promise."

"You know, Troy, it's really not that important-"

"No, it is important. Tonight is very, very important." Gabriella was intrigued, but she didn't press him. He would tell her in his own time.

_With Chad and Taylor_

When Chad got back to his senses he seized Taylor and kissed her hard on the lips. She pulled back after a minute.

"Chad," she giggled, "Isn't tonight supposed to be about more than just kissing?"

"Well, I mean it's hopefully about sex, too…"

"You know that's not what I meant," she scoffed, "And is that all boys think about?"

Chad grinned and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, pretty much."

Taylor shook her head. "Disgusting."

He slung his arms casually around her waist and pulled her closer until their bodies bumped together. "But you love me for it."

She rolled her eyes in mock frustration. "I guess."

He pulled her in for another kiss, and this time she allowed it.

_With Jason and Kelsi_

Jason was still standing by Kelsi and felt a little uncomfortable since Zeke and Sharpay were making out in one corner and Chad and Taylor in another. God knew what Gabriella and Troy were doing, shut up in a separate room. He was scared to think about it.

The fact that Kelsi looked absolutely stunning didn't help. She was short and not too curvy, but the dress made her seem taller and curvier, making her breathtaking, and even sexy, which was rare for Kelsi – especially since she almost never dressed up.

"Wow, Kels, you look amazing," he breathed. Kelsi smiled and blushed.

"Thanks."

He just stood there awkwardly, and so did she. Troy and Gabriella laughed as they walked in and saw them standing together, not meeting each others' eyes. Taking Troy's hand again, Gabriella led him to her bed to talk. This, at least, seemed to put Jason a little more at ease. At least they weren't the only ones that were just talking.

"Sorry I'm so… nervous," Jason said, smiling shyly.

"And I'm not?" Kelsi said, starting to smile a little, too, "But haven't you taken out tons of girls before?"

"Yeah, but," he said, blushing deeply, "Not like you." Kelsi smiled wider, but her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"OKAY," Chad yelled, finally breaking apart from Taylor, "We'd better get going if we want to be on time." Kelsi and Jason instantly jumped from about a foot away from each other to about three yards apart. Everyone laughed. Troy punched Zeke's arm and he finally pulled away from Sharpay, reluctantly. They all left and piled into their cars. Although they were going as a group, each of the boys were going to different places afterwards, so each couple took their own car. Gabriella didn't really want to climb into Troy's truck, but she knew she was going to have to.

But she gasped when she saw, instead of the beat-up old truck, a sleek black limo pulled up next to the other three cars. Gabriella squealed.

"YOU RENTED A LIMO?" she squealed. Troy chuckled at her excitement and they climbed in.

The limo was big, with seats that went all the way around and a TV and mini-bar. Gabriella was really excited.

"I can't believe you rented a limo!"

"Anything to make you happy," he grinned, pulling her onto his lap.

"I love you," she sighed, leaning her head against his chest.

"Now who's saying I love you for an invalid reason?"

Gabriella turned to look at him. "Stop using big words."

"You're the one I learned it from," he pointed out.

She grinned. "Yeah, but big words are for me to use. You're supposed to be smart, but not show it all the time by dropping big words into conversation."

"Oh yeah?" he chuckled, "And what else am I supposed to be?"

She settled back into his chest. "Well, you have to be gorgeous but not look twice at another girl, you have to be sweet and compliment me all the time, but not too much or it'll sound like you're lying. You have to tell me what I want to hear without me telling you what I want to hear. And on top of that you have to be trilingual, an amazing chef, and a good kisser."

"All that, huh?"

"Yep. That's what's required of the perfect guy."

"I only speak one language. And I can barely cook pasta."

"Well, everyone has their faults. I figure you're the closest to perfect that anyone's going to get."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Good, because that's what it was. And we're here," she said as they pulled up to the restaurant where the reception was being held. Troy got out and then helped her out like a gentleman.

"Ready?"

She took his hand and smiled at him. "Ready."

**AN: OMG I'm so so sorry for the late update! I got sick and instead of being a good person I was being lazy and lying on the sofa, watching TV and reading The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (for the third time. Ehem.) So now it's up, and again so so sorry for the late update!**


	17. Graduation Party pt II

**Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own.**

**AN: I'm sorry to say that I probably won't put the pictures of the dresses on my profile – I'm just too lazy. Sorry. So now most people are in class, but my English teacher let us out 50 minutes early and with no homework! Yes! So now instead of studying for Bio, I'm writing here. Hey, laziness benefits you, too. OOH and I watched Rent (the movie, not the play) on TV on Saturday and it is one of the most amazingful things I have ever seen. I then bought the soundtrack (from the play, because the movie **

They all met up again at the dance. All eight of them danced together for the fast songs, laughing and doing weird, old-fashioned dances. But when a slow song came on, they broke off into couples. Well, most of them. Jason and Kelsi just sort of stood there awkwardly when _My Heart Will Go On_, the first slow song, came on. Finally, Jason got up his courage and held out his hand.

"Want to dance?" he almost whispered. Somehow, Kelsi heard him and smiled and nodded. She put his arms around his neck and he placed his lightly on her waist. They started an arm's length away, but they inched together until Kelsi was close enough to cautiously rest her head against Jason's chest. He grinned and kissed the top of her head.

"Aren't they just too cute?" Gabriella asked Troy, her head resting on his chest. She felt him chuckle.

"I'm a guy. We don't think about that stuff."

"Well, then I'm telling you they're too cute. They're so perfect for each other! They're both way too shy."

"Jason's not usually this shy. He's fine talking to, say, Mrs. Darbus."

"Oh yeah, because he wants to kiss Mrs. Darbus."

"Huh? 'Course he doesn't."

"Exactly."

"Oh, I get it now," he said, what Gabriella was trying to get at finally dawning on him. "He loves her, doesn't he?"

"Yep. And she loves him, too. Only I'm guessing they don't realize it yet."

"Ha! Jason's whipped!" Gabriella gave him a look.

"Sorry," he grinned, "Reflex. I'll get over it."

"Don't ruin it for them," she warned. He smiled at her, reaching down to brush a lock of hair from her face.

"I won't." He leaned down slightly and she stood on her tiptoes so that their lips could touch. Troy smiled again as he kissed her.

Kelsi smiled and sighed, relaxing into Jason's chest. Her eyes were closed. She breathed in deeply again, taking in his scent. She wanted to remember this moment forever.

"Hey, Kelsi?" She looked up into Jason's nervous face. "I – I can't believe I'm telling you this, but, um, I, I really like you. I – I've never felt this way about a girl before."

"Me, too," she whispered, not really to Jason because she was looking at her feet. In any case, he didn't hear.

"What?" he asked

"Me, too."

This time, he heard her. He grinned. "Seriously? You mean it?"

"Yes," she said, still a little nervous and looking at her shoes. He dropped her waist and cupped her face in his hands, making her look at him. And then, without asking her permission or anything, he kissed her.

Kelsi melted into him, pulling him closer as he moved his arms to his waist. She had kissed boys before, but being shy her experience was limited. And she had definitely never had a kiss like this before. Her insides were melted into a puddle and her outsides were melted into Jason. This kiss was perfect. And at that moment she realized that she and Jason were meant to be. She had never been surer of anything in her life.

The kiss lasted as long as they could go without air, but it seemed much too short to Kelsi.

"Hey, Kels? Will you be my girlfriend?" a breathless Jason asked her.

"Yeah," she breathed. They both laughed. The song ended and Kelsi ran over to her friends to tell them what had happened.

"NO WAY!" squealed Taylor, "He asked you to be his girlfriend?"

"And on the first date," mused Gabriella, "That's never happened to me."

"Not even with Troy?" Taylor asked, surprised.

"Troy asked me to be his girlfriend on the night I apologized to him at one in the morning. And told me he loves me."

"Why did I never hear about this?" demanded Sharpay. Gabriella laughed and recounted the fateful night.

"That's so sweet!" Kelsi said when she was finished.

"I know! Troy's just perfect," Gabriella said dreamily.

"Why, thank you." Troy himself came up behind Gabriella and wrapped his arms around her waist. She turned to face him and gave him a quick kiss.

"You and your ego," Sharpay said.

"I was just thanking her!" he protested. Sharpay just shook her head.

"I love you," he whispered into Gabriella's hair.

"I love you, too," she said, looking quizzically **(I love that word!)** into his bright blue eyes. She knew he loved her and it wasn't really like him to say it at random moments. From his eyes, she could see he was nervous. But why would he be nervous? He was never nervous around her.

"Baby, what's wrong?" she asked, concerned.

"Nothing."

She raised her eyebrows. "Really," he assured her, "Nothing."

"Okay," she said, although she doubted that he was telling the truth. Troy was a good liar, but she could see through him.

After a couple of hours, the dance was over. All of the friends said goodbye to each other and got into their cars.

Jason was taking Kelsi back to her house. The car ride home was quite, but it wasn't awkward, just peaceful. He walked her to her door and took both of her hands in his, grinning down at her.

Without a word, he leaned down and kissed her again. She responded hungrily. His kisses were addictive; she couldn't get enough of them.

"Well, goodnight, I guess," he said.

"Goodnight." She turned to unlock her door, but Jason grabbed her arm.

"Kelsi… I know you're supposed to wait a day or something before asking a girl on another date, but will you go to dinner with me tomorrow?"

She smiled. "I'd like that."

"Me, too," he said, relieved. He leaned down and kissed her again before watching her go back into her house.

…………….

Gabriella got onto Troy's lap as soon as they were in the limo. She rested her forehead against his.

"I love you," he said.

She kissed him. "I love you, too."

"Did you see Sharpay?"

"I know," she giggled, "She was practically throwing herself at him!"

"It's because of his cookies. I'll tell you, the first time I had one of his cookies _I_ considered throwing myself at him."

"I didn't," Gabriella said proudly, "I was with you."

"Yeah, but you ate eight of them."

"I was hungry and they tasted good."

"I know, Brie."

"Did I ever tell you how much I love it when you call me Brie?"

"No, but I knew."

She rolled her eyes. "Of course you did."

"You see, babe, I can read you like a book,"

"You can, huh?"

"Yep."

"So, what am I thinking now?"

"How incredibly sexy I am and how much you love me," he smirked.

"Well, what do you know," she murmured in his ear, "You're right."

He kissed her hard and long. After he ran out of air, he moved to her neck. "I… Love… You," he murmured between kisses. He slipped his hands under her shirt and her bra. She moaned in pleasure. She tried to pull his shirt off, but he broke the kiss and looked into her eyes.

"Not now, Brie. Save it for later tonight."

"Troy, it's the back of a limo. Nobody can see or hear us; there's a soundproof barrier between our seats and the driver's and tinted windows. It's another hour to the hotel."

"I know, but it'll be more special later tonight if…"

"Okay," she said, slightly confused. Troy was never one to refuse sex.

"But there are other ways to pass the time…" he said with a sexy smile. He covered her mouth with his once again.

……………

Gabriella sat on the king size bed in the ambassador's suite in the Four Seasons Albuquerque. Troy was hanging up his coat, although she noticed him surreptitiously take something from the pocket and hide it in his hand. He walked slowly over to stand by the bed.

"Brie, I need – Well, I need to ask you something. So I'll talk for a while and you just listen, okay?" Gabriella nodded. "I love you, Brie. You're my life; you're my everything. Without you I don't know what I'd do. So I'd like to ask you something. I know we're young, but we're both over eighteen and I've never been surer of anything in my life. **(Got what it is yet?) **So, Gabriella Marie Montez, will you marry me?"

This was the last thing Gabriella was expecting. She just gaped at him for a full minute, on one knee and raising the box that he had taken from his jacket pocket open, revealing a gold ring with a diamond in the middle. She loved him. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him, yes. But she was only eighteen. Marriage was a big step – the biggest step. But then again it really only meant agreeing to spend the rest of her life with him, and she knew that she did.

"Troy. Oh my God, I – I – I do."

"Yes!" He slipped the ring on her finger before picking her up and spinning her around.

"I can't believe you're going to be my husband. I mean, I knew I wanted it, but I never thought it would happen so soon."

"I can't believe you said yes. But I'm beyond ecstatic that you did."

"Me, too." She was looking at him, right in his deep blue eyes. She brought her hands from his shoulders down his chest and to his waist. He rested each of his on her hips. Slowly, he leaned in to kiss her. She wrapped herself around him and he walked over to the bed, laying down on it with Gabriella underneath him. He supported his weight on his forearms and he kissed her fiercely. She unbuttoned his shirt and he shrugged it off as he started unzipping her dress.

"I'm going to marry you," Troy murmured.

"I know," Gabriella said, giggling into the kisses.

**AN: I liked that chapter! OMG I just saw Rent and now I'm obsessed with it. I saw the movie, not the show. Is that still playing? Anyway, it's so so so amazing and I can't stop listening to the songs even the weird ones. Well, my brother says they're weird but he's never heard them so whatever. My favorite has to be either La Vie Boheme or One Song Glory. Even my brother likes that one. And now I'm also slightly obsessed with both Adam Pascall (spelling) and Anthony Rapp. My friend loves Anthony Rapp and when I first saw the movie I couldn't really figure out why, but the more I see the movie and the more I listen to the songs the more he grows on me and now I love him, too. I think it's just because he's such a good actor. And the Mark character is really funny. He seems sort of geeky and reserved, and the in Tango – Maureen and later in La Vie Boheme he seems more like he fits in with the group, even though he's not an addict and he doesn't have AIDS. Anyway, I'll shut up and post this now.**


	18. Annoucnemet

**Disclaimer: I own High School Musical. I bought it in the same day I invented microwave popcorn and the space shuttle.**

**AN: I'm still waiting for the review for the last chapter from the person who hated the fact that Troy proposed. But I'm really glad that I haven't gotten it!**

Gabriella met with her friends at Kelsi's house at noon the next day like they had agreed. They had to recount what had happened the night before. Gabriella was excited to share her news, of course, but she knew it would eclipse the other girls' news so she volunteered to go last. Sharpay decided to go first.

"I slept with Zeke," she said simply.

"So?" pressed Taylor, "How was it?"

"The best I've ever had," she declared, "And I've slept with a few guys."

The other girls shook their heads and laughed. "What's the count?" Gabriella asked.

"Four," Sharpay said, almost proudly. Kelsi laughed.

"And none for me."

"Not that there's anything bad about that," Taylor pointed out.

"Well, Jason was so sweet last night! He asked me out again. And he kissed me!" she gushed.

"Aww," the other three chorused.

"He was amazing. He's the best kisser I've ever kissed. And he's so…. cute!" She sighed and flopped backwards onto the sofa with a smile on her face. She looked up to see the other girls looking at her.

"What?"

"You're in love!" squealed Sharpay.

"With Jason?"

"Yes!" Gabriella said, "It's obvious!"

"It's just a crush."

"No," Taylor insisted, "You love him."

"I care about him. But I don't love him."

"Okay, whatever," Taylor said, shrugging. Gabriella shook her head and giggled.

"So, Tay, what happened with Chad?"

"He was so sweet! He's so funny and goofy but he's just…. I love him!"

"That good, huh?" laughed Gabriella.

"Oh my God it was amazing! The best I've ever had with him. Which, of course, means the best I've ever had with anyone."

"So what happened with you and Troy, Gabi?"

"Oh, well he was spectacular as always."

"Of course," Sharpay said, rolling her eyes.

"But that's not the best part," Gabriella said, her eyes dancing with excitement.

"Oh, yeah?" asked Taylor.

"This is the best part." Gabriella pulled her left sleeve, which had been covering her hand, up so that they could see the engagement ring on her ring finger.

Taylor was the first one to understand. "He… No, he didn't!"

"He did!" she squeaked out.

"He what?" Sharpay was still confused.

"Troy proposed!" the other three girls screamed.

"You're getting MARRIED?!?!" Sharpay yelled.

"Yes," Gabriella breathed, "We're planning on having the wedding at the end of the summer. Fall has always been my favorite season."

All three girls aww-ed. "That's so romantic!" said Kelsi.

"And I want you three to be bridesmaids. Actually, since we don't have long until the wedding, I'm meeting up with Troy later today to arrange logistics – after we tell our parents, of course – and then tomorrow we're going shopping for dresses! Troy, Chad, Zeke, and Jason, if they agree to be groomsmen, are buying suits. And right now I need help with the color scheme."

"Whoa," said Taylor, "That's a lot to do today."

"Pink and silver," said Sharpay.

"For the color scheme? Troy would hate it," Gabriella laughed.

"I think red and lavender would work. A girly color for you and a guy color for him," suggested Kelsi.

"No, I think you should be original and do green and orange or something," said Taylor.

"Well, I like the idea of Troy in red and black, but I think I should also wear a warm color. I look bad in cool colors."

"I think Taylor's right about the orange thing," put in Sharpay, "You should go in pale orange! You'd look _fabulous_."

"No, not red and orange. How about pink for Gabi?" asked Kelsi.

"I like that idea," Taylor said, "And red is like a masculine version of pink. So they'd match."

"I like it, too. So red and pink it is!" Gabriella grinned.

"I love it," said Sharpay.

"Me, too," said Kelsi. Just then, the doorbell rang.

"That must be Troy coming to pick me up. I'll meet you girls here at three. That gives us two hours. The guys are meeting here, too, by the way. Just to warn you, Kels."

Gabriella grabbed her coat on the way out and jumped into Troy's car.

"Hey, Brie," he said, quickly pecking her lips.

"Hey, fiancé," she giggled.

"So, I've told the parents that we have something to tell them and asked them to meet at my house. Oh, and I think your mom thinks you're pregnant," he chuckled.

"Do you really think our parents will be okay with this? With us?" she asked tentatively.

"We're eighteen. We haven't finished college. We've been dating for, what, eight months?"

"So you think they'll disapprove?"

"I think they'll trust us."

"So…"

"They know how much I love you and how much you love me. They'll think we're getting caught up in things and they'll warn us to be careful. But in the end of the day, they'll know that we know what's best for us."

"Thanks. I think that's exactly what I needed to hear," she said, smiling at him. They pulled up at his house.

"Brie?"

"Yeah?"

"I think we should buy an apartment together. So we don't have to live in our parents' houses."

"I think so, too. But how about we buy it near college instead?"

"I've already signed up for a dorm room," he sighed.

"Me, too. But that gives us time to find an apartment, and we'll move in after the semester's over. Okay?"

"I say let's go tell them." He took her hand and they walked into the house. Their parents were already seated in the living room. Gabriella quickly pulled down her sleeve to hide the ring.

"We have something to tell you," Troy started.

"You see, last night, Troy… um, you see me and Troy-"

"We're getting married," he finished. Their parents gaped at them. Finally, Jack spoke up.

"This is a joke," he said. Gabriella shook her head.

"It isn't, Dad. I'm totally serious," he said.

"You mean," Maria said weakly, "She isn't pregnant?"

"God, no," laughed Troy, "I'm not ready to be a father quite yet."

"You… You're serious," Jack said, eyeing them suspiciously, "You're actually getting married." Gabriella pulled up her sleeve and showed them her engagement ring, right next to Troy's class ring and championship ring.

"You're eighteen. You've just graduated. You've been dating for what, six months?" Jack was getting angry yet.

"Eight," Troy said calmly, "And I know. But Gabriella is who I want to spend the rest of my life with. We don't need your permission to get married. But we want your blessings."

"You have mine." It was the first time Lucille Bolton had spoken since the news.

"What the hell Lucille?" Jack yelled, "This is not okay! This is far from okay! What the hell are you thinking? You're eighteen! Statistically, you'll be divorced before forty! You've been dating for eight months! You can't be sure your feelings will last!"

"I've never been surer of anything in my life," Troy said quietly.

"We dated for eight months before we got married," Lucille commented. Jack pretended to not hear her.

"But," Jack said weakly, "You're only eighteen. You don't know what love is."

"I thought you agreed that we were in love last time we talked about it," Troy said coolly.

"Yes, but… But having sex is having sex. Marriage is a life-long commitment. You don't know what love is. You may like her more than any other girl and you have this illusion-"

"Do you know how I know what love is?" Troy was keeping amazingly calm. "When I think why I love Gabriella I think it should be because she's a good person or she's nice to people or something. Which she is. But that's not why I love her. Or at least, that's not all. It's the little things. Like how she gets milkshake on her nose or is still nervous around me even though I've told her a thousand times that I'm not leaving her."

"Troy-" Jack started.

"Once someone famous or something said that everyone on the face of this planet will annoy you. The key to finding the right person is finding the person who annoys you the least. Well, I think I've found her. I think it's Gabriella. Because all the stuff that would annoy me if anyone else did them are just so damn cute when she does them. And I won't pretend that I love everything about her. There are a couple of things. It's not like I'm being unrealistic. But the good overpowers the bad so forcefully and completely that it's way more than worth it. And _that's_ why I know what love is."

Jack sighed. "I'm still not completely convinced. Plans change and people change and I'm not sure about any of this. But it's clear that this is what you both want, so you have my blessing."

"Do you love him with all of your heart, Gabriella?" Maria asked her daughter, "More than anyone else in the world? More than me?"

Gabriella took a deep breath. She wasn't going to lie. "Yes, with all of my heart, yes more than anyone else and yes. More than you."

Tears came to Maria's eyes. But they were tears of happiness for her daughter. "Then you've found who you've been looking for and I think you've made the right decision by choosing to marry him." She saw the look of confusion on Gabriella's face and smiled. "Trick question." Gabriella laughed a watery laugh, starting to cry as well. She hugged her mother tightly.

"If it makes a difference, you're a close second."

"I know, Gabriella. And I wouldn't want you to marry him if you didn't love him the most."

"Thanks for understanding."

"I like to think I'm good at that," Maria smiled. "Go back to your fiancé." Gabriella went back to Troy's side and kissed him.

"I love you," he murmured to her. They were lost in their own world, completely oblivious to the smiles on their parents' faces.

**AN: OMG it took me SO LONG to write that but I'm really pleased with how it turned out. Sorry for the late update but as aforementioned, it took me SO LONG to write.**


	19. Preperations

**Disclaimer: If only…**

**AN: So so so so sorry for the late update! I sort of forgot to mention in the last chapter that I was going to South Africa for two weeks. It was a blast, but there were no computers. My parents don't let me take my laptop on trips. The good news is that I wrote a huge chunk of a story I'm working on, but haven't started yet. So, on the topic of this story, I haven't ever planned a wedding (obviously). So I'm sorry if I get stuff wrong!**

**PS – important announcements in the AN at the bottom, so read it!**

They went shopping that afternoon. The girls decided to take the guys with them instead of letting them wander off on their own. Gabriella was looking for a wedding dress, obviously, and Troy needed a tux, as did the rest of the guys. The girls would wear matching pink dresses.

They walked into the first store and Gabriella went up to a shopkeeper.

"How may I help you?" the clerk smiled.

"I'm Gabriella, and this is my fiancé, Troy. These are Taylor, Kelsi, and Sharpay, and these are Chad, Zeke, and Jason."

"Ah, so all of you are participating in the ceremony?"

"Yes," Troy said, "Chad's the best man and Taylor's the maid of honor. Everyone else is a bridesmaid or a groomsman."

"And have you decided on a color scheme?"

"Well," Gabriella said, "I'll be wearing white and Troy will be wearing black, but the other men should wear red and black and the girls will be wearing pink."

"Hmm… A white dress for the bride, pink dresses for the other ladies, a standard tux for the groom, and tuxes with red bowties and cummerbunds for the rest of the men, I think. Is that okay?"

"That sounds great," Gabriella said.

"Donna! Michelle! Marcus!" the man called. Three people rushed to his side at once. One was a short, blonde woman wearing khakis and a plain pink blouse. Another was a tall, brown-haired woman wearing a black skirt and shirt with a v-neck and rhinestones all over it. The man, Marcus, was wearing a purple suit. He wasn't too tall, with brown, messy hair **(Think Mark from Ugly Betty.)**

"So, Gabriella, was it?" Gabriella nodded. "You'll be coming with me," the clerk said. "I'm Adam. I specialize in brides. Troy will be going with Donna and she will find him a tux. He should be easy to find one for; tuxes are simple to fit as standard. Chad, Zeke, and Jason – if I remember their names correctly – will go with Michelle and she will find them the correct tuxedos. The other girls will go with Marcus. I think you'll find that he is very good at finding dresses. Of course, Gabriella, you will need to approve of everything, so I think it would be best if Marcus and I worked nearby each other. That way you can see what you think of the dresses. You can change the suits slightly, but they are not going to leave much room for change. Any questions?"

"No," Gabriella said, laughing a little at the complications of simply buying clothes, "Let's get started." As soon as she said the word, everyone was whisked away. Marcus and Adam sat Gabriella and the girls down in a cloister of armchairs near some shelves, hangers, and changing rooms.

"Let's start with the bridesmaids so that we can let Marcus suit them up. After all, there are three of them and the job of choosing their dresses is often less complicated. So, what were you envisioning in a bridesmaid dress?"

"Well, I think a pale pink, long dress," Gabriella said. Marcus tut-tutted.

"Darling, you must be more specific than that. What kind of neckline do you want?"

Gabriella looked at her friends, asking for help with her eyes. "Well, even at eighteen, I probably couldn't pull off a full-length, strapless dress, so that's a limiting factor," Kelsi said, sighing a little.

"I think we should go for spaghetti straps," suggested Taylor, "Simple and classic."

"I'm with Taylor," agreed Kelsi. Sharpay nodded.

"Okay, spaghetti straps."

"And did you want a full-length dress or to the mid-calves or to the knees?" asked Adam.

"Mid-claves," Gabriella answered after thinking for a moment.

"Full skirt or normal skirt or tight-fitting skirt?" asked Marcus.

"Just normal."

"Okay… It will be hard finding a shade of pale pink for… excuse me, what's your name?" Marcus asked Taylor.

"Taylor," she answered.

"Well, Taylor, it may be hard to find a shade of pale pink that works with your skin tone. It normally works better with pale girls. I'm confident that we'll find something, though. Gabriella, do you mind if I steal your friends for a while while you talk to Adam? I need to work on the colors. I'll come back to you with some choices that will look good on all of your friends."

"Sure," Gabriella said. Marcus motioned for the girls to follow him before disappearing around a shelf.

"So, Gabriella. Because you seem to have trouble describing dresses – no offence meant, of course – I think that I should show you some pictures and you can tell me which you prefer. Would that be alright?"

"That sounds fine," Gabriella said. Adam held up the first two pictures. One was a classic wedding dress with a veil and train. The other was the complete opposite. It had a micro-mini-length skirt. The bodice was only two strips of fabric going across the breasts. It came with sky-high, white heels. It was totally slutty.

"Which one do you prefer?" asked Adam.

"That one," Gabriella said immediately, pointing at the classic dress.

"Thank Goodness," Adam smiled, "I hate it when a girl wants to look like a whore on her wedding day. Frankly, I think it's disgusting."

"Me, too," Gabriella agreed. Adam held up two more pictures. This time it was of a dress with a full skirt and a dress with a normal, straight skirt. Gabriella considered before choosing the one with the full skirt. She went on to choose a strapless dress, no train and no veil. They talked for almost an hour and a half before Adam decided that he had enough information to get back to her with some ideas. Just then, the guys appeared, wearing their new tuxes. Troy had on a classic black tux. The rest of the boys wore black tuxes with red bow ties and cummerbunds. They all looked good.

"Hey, baby," Gabriella said, getting up and going to Troy. She put her arms around him and he did the same to her.

"Hey, Brie. How's the dress shopping going?"

"Good. Adam said he'd get back to me with some ideas. How's the tux feel?"

"As long as I only have to wear it a couple of times, I'll be fine."

"Excited?"

"You bet," he said, grinning down at her. He leaned down and kissed her.

"We'd better go. It's already five; stores are closing so we can't do the flowers today. Anyway, we're supposed to be at my house by six for dinner, remember?" Gabriella said.

"Yeah, let's get going," Troy said. The eight friends piled into their cars and drove to their respective homes for diner.

**AN: Bad ending. Very bad ending. But the rest of it was okay, I thought. Nothing special. Like I said before, I have absolutely no experience in planning weddings. I've been a flower girl twice and a bridesmaid once. Apart from that, nada. Zilch. Nil. So forgive me if I have some – okay, a lot – of stuff wrong.**

**Oh, right, announcements. This is about the stories I'm posting soon. They are: A Week in Paradise, The Life and Times of Kira Bolton, and another story that I haven't titled yet. I should have them up soon. For those of you who read Best Friends, I'll post the info on LTKB, which is the sequel, on that story once it's up.**

**Once again, really sorry for the late update and please review!**


	20. Pool Party

**Disclaimer: You know the drill.**

**AN: UGH late update AGAIN! I'm sorry but it's going to be like that for a while because I'm in a rut with this story. But I'll just write now.**

"CHAD DANFORTH IF YOU THROW ME INTO THAT POOL I SWEAR TO YOU THAT I WILL KICK YOU SO HARD YOU WILL NEVER HAVE CHILDREN!" It was summer, officially. Although summer had started when school ended, it was never official until Sharpay had her annual pool party at Lava Springs, the resort that her parents owned. It was a tradition. It was also a tradition for Sharpay to only invite her close friends. She actually had an end-of-summer bash for everyone at Lava Springs, but only for her closest friends at the beginning of summer. It was also a tradition for the girls to sunbathe and talk until the guys got bored, picked them up, and jumped into the pool with them. This was the first year that Troy had Gabriella as a girlfriend, and she was personally dreading it.

She saw his big form coming towards her. He scooped her up in his arms. "Troy," she said, "If you jump into that pool with me my swimsuit will come off." She was wearing a skimpy red bikini that would definitely be displaced if she slammed into the water.

"Excellent," grinned Troy.

"Oh, so you want Chad and Zeke and Jason to see me naked?"

"I'll make sure that doesn't happen," he said, changing his mind.

"TROY ALEXANDER BOLTON IF YOU THROW ME INTO THE POOL THE WEDDING'S OFF!!!" It was also a tradition for the girls to scream empty threats before being plunged into the water. Sure enough, that's what happened. "TROY!!!" she screamed.

"Water polo time!" said Jason. He and Kelsi were already in the pool along with Sharpay and Zeke. They divided into teams before playing a few rounds of water polo.

"How about girls against guys now?" suggested Taylor.

"No way," said Chad, "It wouldn't be fair. We'd beat you too easily."

"Wanna bet?" asked Sharpay.

"I say it's a game," said Zeke. Everyone agreed and the girls and guys got in opposite ends of the pool.

"Girls can start with the ball," Troy offered gallantly.

Gabriella took the ball and passed it to Sharpay. The pass was easily intercepted by Troy. He was about to pass it to Zeke when he felt a finger run up his spine. He spun around to see his fiancé gazing up at him. He faltered. She leaned right up to his ear, pressing her wet body against his. "Can I please have the ball, Troy?" Her breath tickled his ear, but he resisted and shook his head. She pressed her nose against his and asked again, her lips brushing his with every word, "And I'll give you a reward if you do," she added seductively at the end. He surrendered the ball immediately. She giggled and moved away from him, sticking out her tongue as she scored.

"No fair!" complained Jason.

"Yeah!" agreed Chad, "You can't use your womanly charms against us!" Gabriella watched Taylor whisper something to Chad. "Never mind, that's okay," he said quickly.

"I think the game's been won," Zeke said. The rest of the guys agreed, surrendering.

"I think you owe me a reward," Gabriella heard a low voice whisper in her ear. Troy put his arms around her waist as she turned to face him.

"What if I was bluffing?"

"Then I'd have to punish you." Shivers of delight went up and down her body as she thought what that might entail. She pushed her body up close to his.

"What if I need to be punished?"

"Then I'd have to…. Do this!" He started tickling her. She laughed, almost doubling over. Luckily, the water was shallow enough for her to stand.

"Troy… Stop!"

"Only if you promise to give me that reward! Or I'll _really_ punish you."

"Never!"

"Say it!"

"Troy!" she gasped, still laughing uncontrollably as his hands tickled her sides.

"Say it!"

"Fine! I promise to reward you later, okay?"

"I want a reward _now,_" he whined.

"I can make it worth the wait," she said. It was his turn to shiver.

"Okay," he agreed.

Later, they were all lounging around on lawn chairs. Troy was sitting on one right next to Gabriella's. She was reading a book and he was reading a comic – he insisted that you were never too old for Calvin and Hobbes. "I like this," he said.

"What?"

"Just sitting here. Being with you. Being young and not having to work or anything; just thinking about hanging out with my friends. Knowing that by the fall I'll be married to you. Knowing that I love you and I always will. I like this."

"Yeah, me, too. I like that, even though we're engaged, we can still act like kids."

He put down his comic and rolled onto his side to look at her. She did the same. "I love you. I really love you," he said, completely seriously.

"Me, too," she said, "I'm still trying to figure out what happened."

"Join the club," he chuckled.

And the friends sat contentedly through the rest of the afternoon, enjoying being young and happy and being friends.

**AN: Okay, really suckish and cheesy ending. But I liked the chapter. It was totally a filler and it was too short, but I wrote it fairly quickly so I could get it up. Again, so sorry for the late update. I feel like I'll have a few of those until I finish the story. It's coming to a close, I think. I know I've said that before, but I think that the next chapter will be the wedding and then after that only two more, maybe. Maybe three. Two and an epilogue? But after this chapter I'm going to skip forwards a couple of months and I'll probably keep skipping forwards. Just to warn you. Until then, please review! And if I'm taking **_**too**_** long to update, PM me to complain about it.**


	21. The Wedding

**Disclaimer: The last present I got was chalk (you know, for climbing?). Yeah, not as expensive as HSM.**

**AN: I'm going to update sooner this time and hopefully with a longer chapter. This is going to be THE WEDDING!!! Oh, one reviewer mentioned wanting to know what Troy's reward was. I'm not going to write it in a T-rated story, so just use your imagination.**

Gabriella fingered the white material of her wedding dress. She was alone in a room with a mirror and still not completely sure how she had gotten there. Someone had done her makeup and hair and then left her there to wait for someone else to do something else. So she had no idea what she was doing there. From the watch she had bought that went with her dress, she knew that the ceremony was due to start in only twenty minutes. She was ready to go. She had her makeup, her hair, her dress, and, most importantly, something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. She wore a bracelet that she had bought for the graduation party, her dress and most of the other things she was wearing were new, she was wearing a pair of Sharpay's whit heels, and her hair was tied with a blue ribbon.

There was a knock on the door and she called for the person to come in. Her mother entered. Since Gabriella's father had died when she was just a baby, so her mother would be giving her away. Since she didn't remember him, she didn't feel much remorse about his death, although her mother did. It was mostly moments like these when she wished she had a father, but even then it was the concept of having a father that she missed, not the actual man from whom she had gotten half of her chromosomes. And she had never even had a father figure very much because, although her mother had dated, she had never re-married. She said that she had never found the right man. Gabriella had found a father figure once in her ninth grade Geometry teacher who had treated her like a daughter. But he had moved to New York because of a better job offer, so she had nobody like a father that was close to her. She had always been content with her family of two, and she realized that now her family was going to grow. Did that mean that her mother was in her extended family? That she was less her family than Troy was? That they would become less close? That she would become nothing more than the annoying old woman who moved in with her daughter and her husband because she had nowhere else to go and they didn't have the heart to stick her in a retirement home? Gabriella didn't think that she could bear that.

"Nervous?" asked Maria.

"A little," her daughter admitted.

"Well, it's normal to be a little nervous. But Troy's a great guy and I'm sure you'll be happy together."

"I know. I wish we could live together like a real married couple, though. I mean, image what it'll be like to tell my roommate I'm married."

"It'll be an experience. And you'll be fine. Anyway, absence – and abstinence – makes the heart grow fonder."

"I'm sure there will be plenty of abstinence. We'll both have roommates."

"It's only for a semester, honey. Then you can move out. Have you started looking at houses yet?"

Gabriella thought back on the house searching she and Troy had done in the past few weeks. "We can't afford a house, so we're going to buy a small apartment near the school until we can get a bigger place. We've narrowed it down to a few small places. They're all wonderful."

"I remember the first apartment your father and I shared. It was the year after we finished college. It was one bedroom, one bathroom, a kitchen, and a living room. It was tiny, but it was ours," Maria said, smiling and gazing into space. It wasn't often that she brought her late husband up willingly, but Gabriella was always grateful for tidbits about her father.

"It's time to go out," said Maria, "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be." Maria took her daughter by the arm and led her out of the room, through a door that led into the main room of the small chapel that they were getting married in. As the wedding march played, Gabriella tried to keep a straight face and an elegant walk as she moved gracefully down the isle. She saw Troy standing at the altar and instantly relaxed. It was all right. Troy was there. She made it to the altar and held both of his hands in hers, their fingers lacing, looking lovingly into each others' eyes. The priest said his speech and Gabriella tried her hardest to focus on his words. Finally, it was time to exchange vows. They had chosen to write their own. Troy went first.

"I sat down to write these vows and I didn't know where to begin. With your eyes, your sense of humor, the way you can always make me happy just by being around you? I finally decided to settle on a story from when we were kids. I remember when we were four, we both asked for the same toy for Christmas – a really cool game with flashing lights and sounds that played as you went around the board. I didn't get it and you did, but when I told you you immediately said that we could share yours: I'd get it one week and you'd get it the next. I know that some people disapprove of us getting married after only eight months of dating, especially beause we hated each other before that. But I've been in love with you since I was only four. And I never stopped. As hard as I can try, I can never express to you or anyone else how much I love you and care about you." He squeezed her hands and stepped closer to her, almost urgently. "And if I ever get close to halfway to describing the intensity of this feeling, I'll be, if possible, even happier than I am now."

Gabriella looked deep into his eyes. Through that and the feeling of his hands in hers, she found the courage to say what she had been planning to. "I'll never forget the first time I met you. We were both only four and it was the first day of kindergarten. I had been to preschool in another town, but not in Albuquerque. You, of course, knew everyone from a year of preschool before **(I started preschool at three; they can, too.)** and everyone liked you. But on the first day of school, when I was reading under the big tree in the playground, you came up to me and said hi. I remember you sitting down to me and introducing yourself and giving me a hug. I remember a strange feeling in my stomach when you hugged me, sort of like a lurch and a somersault. I still feel that every time you touch me. I was too young then to know what I was feeling, and the truth is that I still couldn't tell you. It's not just love. I love a lot of people: my friends, my family, my dog. It's not just in my stomach anymore. Every inch of me tingles, my heart starts beating faster, and my face flushes. But whatever it is it feels really good and I know it's here to stay."

The priest finished his sermon with, "Troy Andrew Bolton, do you take Gabriella Anna Montez as your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for better or worse, until death do you part?"

"I do," Troy said, although he was looking at Gabriella.

"And do you, Gabriella Anna Montez, take Troy Andrew Bolton as your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for better or worse, until death do you part **(I probably missed some stuff, sorry)**?"

"I do," Gabriella said, squeezing Troy's hands.

"Then I now pronounce you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

Troy leaned down and met his wife's lips for their first kiss as a married couple.

**AN: I know, no ending. But whatever. I'm sorry for the delay but I'm trying to write this and my other story and I have a lot of schoolwork and I got the coffe table RENT book – the RENT bible – and I read it cover to cover, which took a whole day. So I'm sorry again.**


	22. Honeymoon and Girl Talk

**Disclaimer: Grr. Nothing.**

**AN: Okay, does anyone watch What The Buck on Youtube? Funniest show in the entire world. Seriously. Watch the episode on Jonas Brothers fans. (if you search them, make sure you write what the buck as one word so whatthebuck in the search otherwise it won't work – I think). Funniest thing I have ever seen. And I've seen End Of Ze World. watch it.) So enough making you go look stuff up; I'll talk about the story now. I feel like I should've done a chapter on the reception but frankly I didn't feel like it and if I force myself to write it it won't be as good and I won't get it up as fast. So I'm doing this one instead.**

They went to Venice for their honeymoon. It wasn't traditional, but Gabriella had always wanted to see the city on water and neither of them had ever been to Italy and both loved Italian food, so it made sense. It was a wedding gift from Troy's parents: three weeks in Venice at a five-star hotel – Troy's mother had a very high-paying job – staying in the honeymoon suite.

As they took a boat ride from the airport to the hotel, Gabriella was super-excited. They finally got there, checked in, and were showed to their room. As she walked in, she caught her breath. Then squealed.

The carpet was thick and pink and squashed beneath her feet. The wallpaper was also pink. There was a huge, heart-shaped bed covered in a red comforter and covered in heart-shaped pillows. There was a huge TV and sofa in one corner and a mini bar in another. A door lead to a bathroom, which was bigger than Gabriella's bedroom back home. There was a two-person shower, a two-person Jacuzzi bathtub, and lots of other white, shiny things. She grinned. This was going to be fun.

"This is going to be fun," grinned Troy. She laughed. He had his arms around her waist, having caught up with her after she had raced around the suite, totally psyched.

"So… what should we do now… all alone… in this big suite…. and a really comfy-looking bed," she murmured, putting her arms around him, pressing their bodies together, and standing on tiptoes so that her breath tickled his face as she spoke.

"I read that the hotel has a great range of PS3 games that you can play in your room," suggested Troy, smiling innocently.

"We could do that," she said, pressing her chest against his, "But I was thinking about something else."

"I also read that you can borrow board games from the front desk. How about Monopoly?" He was grinning now.

She sighed and ran her hands down his chest, brushing them purposefully against his crotch. He took a deep breath. "Maybe a movie," he suggested.

She ran her hands up his chest under his shirt, lifting it over his head. She kissed his chest. "Oh," he said, "You want to take a nap. Good idea. Obviously I can't sleep in that shirt."

"I don't want to take a nap," she whispered seductively.

"Than what do you want?" The innocent act was becoming harder for him by the minute as he fought the feelings that were engulfing him because of the contact with his wife.

"I want you."

"You want me to…?" She didn't answer but instead pushed him backwards onto the huge bed so that he was sitting down. She sat on top of him and pressed herself down onto him. Hard. She leaned towards him and nibbled on his earlobe. That was too much for him and he grabbed her and pushed her over backwards so that she was lying on the bed and he was on top of her.

"Now I get it," he said huskily.

…………..

Taylor gave her friend one week alone with her new husband to enjoy married life and figure out what to do with a slew of toasters before forcing her to come to lunch. Anyway, she had to give her long enough to be able to give her some juicy stuff about being married.

They met for lunch at the Black Bean Café **(I don't think it's an actual café, but if so I didn't mean it to be), **a couple of blocks from both of their homes. After they had sat down and ordered slices of cake ("You're married now," Taylor had pointed out, "You can get fat as much as you want."), Taylor let herself commence pressing her friend for information.

"So? How's married life?"

"We still don't live together," she sighed, "Although Mom now lets him stay overnight in my room, instead of in the guest room. Although she still says no sex in the house. Not that we obey her."

"So?" Taylor asked, smiling slyly.

"So what?" Gabriella asked, stalling.

"So how's married sex?"

"Amazing," Gabriella gushed, her eyes shining. "He's just so… wow."

"Tell me about your wedding night. I want to know every detail. Who made the first move?"

"I did. He was playing innocent. But he took over pretty fast - I love it when he's in charge. He's so sexy."

"So he was on top?"

"Yeah. Oh my God, Taylor, he's so so sexy."

"I thought you'd done this before," she teased.

"Yeah, but now… It's so much better. Seriously, Tay. He's just so…"

"Sexy?" suggested Taylor.

"Yes!" exclaimed Gabriella. Both girls laughed.

……………….

Meanwhile, Troy and Chad were having a guys' day. Naturally, they were playing basketball.

"So, man, you're like married now. Tied down," Chad said, tossing the ball to him.

"Yeah, but you're tied down, too," he said, tossing the ball back.

"But not for life." Chad dribbled the ball down the court before passing again to Troy.

"Well, technically…" Troy said.

"But you would never divorce Gabi!" Chad protested.

"No; I love her. But you love Taylor. When are you going to ask her to marry you?"

Chad sighed. "I don't know. I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I gave her my ring. But what if she breaks up with me because the long-distance thing doesn't work? I don't want that to happen at all, but it'll hurt even more if we're engaged."

"She's not going to break up with you, Chad. She's crazy for you." Troy tossed the ball easily into the basket and it swished through the net.

"Yeah, hopefully."

**AN: Ugh this chapter SUCKED! This story is really hard to write. And I now have to write The Life and Times of Kira Bolton, as well. Which nobody is reading. Grr.**


	23. AN

**Disclaimer: Nothing.**

**AN: Hey, people, sorry about this but I forgot to put in my last chapter that I'm going to be in Austria for a week skiing and I'm leaving in Saturday and I'm trying to get a chapter of TLKB up before I leave, so I won't be able to work on this story again until I get back.**


	24. Goodbyes and Hellos

**Disclaimer: AGH!**

**AN: I know I'm a terrible person! But Word crashed and deleted the chapter and one of KB's chapters so I had to do them both again! And then I was just lazy for a whole week. And then I had a lot of trouble writing the chapter. And then I started reading **_**Twilight **_**and those of you who've read it can agree that it's not a book you can put on hold for anything. Even homework. I barely even ate. Anyway, I'm sorry!**

After the honeymoon, college seemed to rush up on them quickly. The day before orientation week started, Troy, Zeke, Gabriella, and Jason were to drive to California together in Troy's car and Zeke and Jason's cars were being shipped there **(I know, but I wanted a road trip and didn't want their cars getting in the way.) **Taylor, Sharpay, and Kelsi were flying to New York and then Sharpay and Taylor were driving to their respective colleges.

They said their goodbyes in Albuquerque on a Saturday afternoon. They had arranged to meet on Troy's lawn so that they could say goodbye and then a taxi would arrive to take the three girls to the airport and everyone else would pack their cars and leave. All four girls were in tears.

"I'm going to miss you so much!" Taylor said, crying, to Gabriella.

"I know, me too!"

Taylor smiled and wiped the tears off her cheeks. "We must look so stupid. We'll see each other in two months! It's not that long, right?"

"Yeah." Gabriella shared similar goodbyes with both Kelsi and Taylor. The guys said goodbye slightly awkwardly to their friends and the girls pulled them into hugs. Then Gabriella and Troy went to start packing the cars and left everyone else to say goodbye to their significant other **(UGH I hate saying that but there's no other way to say it.) **

** (sorry for the AN in the middle) I'm sorry but I'm not going to add emotional depth to Zekepay because I don't care about it enough. Sorry.**

_With Kelsi and Jason_

"So…" Jason said.

"Yeah," said Kelsi glumly.

"Listen, Kels," Jason said, taking both of her hands, "I really like you and I'm going to miss you."

"Yeah, me too," she said softly. She was looking at her feet. Jason let go of one of her hands and lifted her chin up to look at him. There were tears on her cheeks.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"It's just that I like you and I'm going to miss you and…"

"And what?"

"Nothing."

"Come on, Kels."

"It's just that I'm afraid you'll come back at Thanksgiving with a tall, blonde, beautiful girl and I'll have to live with it."

"Oh, Kelsi," he said, cupping her face in his hands and wiping her tears off with his thumbs, "You know I wouldn't do that."

"I guess…."

"Kelsi, you're the only girl for me. Really."

"Really?" she asked hopefully. He just kissed her in response.

"Now come on. You've got a plane to catch.

_With Chad and Taylor_

Chad stood awkwardly in front of his girlfriend. He sighed. "Tay, you know I'm bad at this sentimental stuff." Taylor nodded. "But I'll call you every day – twice a day, if you want – and we'll see each other in two and a half months." She nodded again, and he could see that she was holding back tears. "Taylor," he said, taking her hands in his, "You're my world. Honestly, I – I don't know how I'll live without you. I love you."

Taylor let out a sob and buried her face in Chad's chest, wrapping her arms around him. He stroked her back and kissed the top of her head. "And Tay?" he asked.

"Yeah?" she said, looking up at him but not removing her arms from around his middle.

"I got you something." He produced a smallish box from seemingly nowhere and handed it to his girlfriend. She unwrapped it, curious. She laughed when she got it open. Inside was a webcam.

"Now we can video chat whenever we want," Chad explained. She smiled and kissed him, squeezing him tight.

"I love you," she said.

"And I love you. Now let's get your bags in that taxi."

………………

"ROAD TRIP!!!" Zeke yelled at the top of his lungs. Troy and Jason cheered. Gabriella rolled her eyes.

"I'd be more impressed if this wasn't the seventh time you yelled that. Honestly, guys."

"Yeah, guys," Troy said. He was driving and Gabriella was in the passengers' seat. Troy had his hand on Gabriella's knee.

"Nice try, but you're just as bad," Gabriella laughed.

"We're guys, baby," joked Jason.

"Is the whole trip going to be like this?" Gabriella complained.

"Pretty much, yeah," said Jason. Gabriella groaned.

"How did I get stuck with three guys?"

"Hey, don't look at me," Troy said, "You're the one who wanted to go to Stanford."

"Yeah, whatever."

"C'mon, Brie," Troy said, leaning in and trying to kiss her. She put a finger on his lips.

"Eyes on the road, babe," she reminded him.

He sighed melodramatically. "I try to show some affection," he muttered.

"Aww." She went to kiss his cheek and he turned his head at the last minute and pecked her lips.

"Gotcha," he gloated.

"Okay, that's it. No sex tonight."

"But Brie… Besides, I'm going to be all hot from carrying my stuff…"

"TROY!' Zeke yelled from the backseat.

"It's just a joke, Zeke," Gabriella laughed, "To wind you guys up. We have roommates, anyway."

All three boys snorted. Gabriella shook her head. "It's the first night."

…………………

After dropping Zeke and Jason off, Troy helped Gabriella find her room and bring her bags up. Gabriella wanted to meet her roommate before hanging out with Troy on campus, and he figured it was a good opportunity for him to meet his.

When they got to the room, her roommate was already there, setting up a TV in the corner. "Watch out, guy in the room," Troy joked. He and Gabriella walked in and he put her bags down by the door. "I'll come back and bring the rest of your stuff up when I'm finished with my room, okay? I'll give you some time to rest."

"Thanks," she said. She wrapped her arms around him and he wrapped his around her. They shared a quick kiss before Troy left.

Gabriella turned to her roommate. "Sorry about that. He wanted to drop me off. Are you Amy Dumant **(anyone get that?)?**"

"Yeah," Amy said, sticking out her hand to shake, "You must be Gabriella." Gabriella nodded and looked around the room. There were two desks, two twin beds, and nothing else. **(I have no idea what dorm rooms look like). **Alex had a bunch of stuff piled in the corner.

"My parents dropped me off an hour ago and I haven't had much time to do stuff. I didn't want to move anything around without checking with you, first." A week before, they had called each other to talk about who should bring a TV, a sofa, a coffee table, a mini fridge, and other things.

"Oh, yeah. Troy will be back up with the rest of the stuff soon."

"Was that Troy who dropped you off?"

"Yeah."

"He's hot!" she exclaimed, "Is he your boyfriend?"

Gabriella bit her lip. She had been nervous about this part. She had no idea how Amy would react. "Actually, he's my husband. We got married about a month ago."

"Oh, cool," Amy said, her blue eyes shining. Gabriella smiled. She liked her roommate. She seemed easy-going. "So, where are you from?" Amy asked.

"Albuquerque," Gabriella said, "And you?"

"I'm all the way from Maryland. I live in Sandy Springs **(My cousin lives there.)" **

"Wow, that's a long way."

"Yeah. So, Gabi – is it okay if I call you that? – I hope you don't think this is _too _weird but I always have a list of questions I always ask people when I meet them so we can be done with the superficial stuff and start talking like real friends. Is it okay if I just ask you them?"

Gabriella didn't know quite what to think of this, but she nodded anyway. "Great," Amy said. "So, what's the story with your parents?"

"Well, their names are Maria and William. My father passed away when I was only a baby. So now I live with my mom. Or I guess not for long, because me and Troy are looking for apartments."

"Oh," Amy said, "I didn't mean for that to come up. I'm sorry."

"No problem," Gabriella said, "I never knew him, so I don't really miss him. I just miss the idea of having a father. So, how about your parents?"

"Well, they're still together. My mom's called Rose and my dad's called Alexander. They live up in Sandy Springs. So, do you have any siblings? Any pets?"

"No, I'm an only child and I've never had a pet. Except for once in third grade when I found a hermit crab on the beach when we were on vacation and I got to keep it in a jar until we went back home. I named him Pickle. Don't ask why; I was eight."

Amy laughed. "I have three amazingly annoying little brothers. Alex – my dad's namesake – is fifteen, Andy is fourteen, and Jason is twelve. They're nightmares. And I have a dog called Princess. I just want to say that I named her when I was ten." It was Gabriella's turn to laugh.

"So, tell me about Troy, since I think I've finished giving you the third degree."

Gabriella smiled. "He's totally adorable. You'll meet him when he comes up again. He's so-" Just then, there was a knock on the door. Gabriella laughed as she recognized it.

"Hey, Troy, we were just talking about you!" she yelled. He chuckled as he strolled through the doorway. He sat down next to Gabriella, who was sitting on the bed across from Amy, and put his arm around her.

"So, talking about me, huh?"

"Yeah, girls talk about guys all the time," Amy chimed in.

Troy's eyes grew wide. "You don't mean… like with Taylor…"

"No," Gabriella laughed, "I save that for when I've known someone for at least a week."

Troy sighed in relief. "Anyway," he said, taking Amy's hand and shaking it, "I'm Troy. I'm Gabriella's husband."

Amy smiled at him. "I'm Amy. Nice to meet you."

"Well, this is cozy," Troy remarked, looking around the almost-empty room. Gabriella hit him playfully on the arm.

"That's because we were waiting for you to bring the stuff up!"

"Oh, right," he grinned, "I'll go do that now."

"Okay," Gabriella said, kissing him quickly.

"Love you, Brie," he said.

"I love you, too," she smiled. He kissed her again and then left the room to go and get the stuff.

"Oh, my God, he's adorable!" squealed Amy.

"I know," Gabriella sighed, smiling dreamily.

"And you're so cute together! And oh my God he's gorgeous!"

"Thanks," Gabriella said, her eyes shining.

"You should see the way he looks at you," she continued, "I wish I had a guy like that."

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Nah, not right now. I've had a few in high school – I had a semi-serious one in my junior year – but never anything that big or deep."

Gabriella nodded. "Same here. The thing with me and Troy is weird, though. You see, when we were only five, we were actually in love. Not just like best friends, but in love. And then I was an idiot and screwed everything up and we were enemies for the next twelve years. But the thing is that we still loved each other all along. Then, about ten months ago, I went to his house at one in the morning in my pajamas and threw rocks at his window until he woke up. And I told him how I felt. And I kissed him. And then he told me that he still loved me. And then, eight weeks later, some girl kissed him and I freaked out and dumped him and we were both hugely depressed for a while. Like the can't-eat-can't-sleep stuff that you hear about in movies. And then Taylor and Chad – they're friends of ours – set Troy up to tell Chad why he loves me. He said some really sweet things. And I took him back and we've been together since."

Amy whistled. "Wow. What did you do that messed everything up for twelve years?"

Gabriella looked down at her hands as she explained the whole thing to her new friend, from Troy's wish to her kissing Danny right in front of him. She looked up when she was finished. Amy had her knees tucked up in front of her and her head buried in her knees. "Amy?"

"I'm not crying," Amy answered. She was obviously crying. Gabriella smiled a little.

"At least it has a happy ending," she pointed out. Amy lifter her head and smiled, her eyes slightly puffy.

"Yeah," she said cheerfully. "You're so –" Just then, Troy walked in, carrying a small dresser. Gabriella got up and showed him where to put it. She kissed him in thanks. He nodded and flashed a smile in Amy's direction. Gabriella could see her new friend melt a little. But who could blame her?

**AN: The ending was abrupt, but I want to get this up soon!**


End file.
